At the 7th CII International Energy Conference & Exhibition in New Delhi, Bihar was presented as a national leader in smart metering as Energy Secretary Ajay Yadav said the State accounts for around 70 per cent of India’s prepaid smart metres. Bihar has installed nine point two million (mn) prepaid smart metres and about 30 per cent of total smart metre installations including postpaid devices. He outlined the use of smart metering, artificial intelligence and internet of things (IoT) technologies to create flexible and consumer?centric power systems.

He outlined rapid sector improvements between 2020 and 2025, with billing efficiency rising from 75.14 per cent in financial year 2019?20 to 88.46 per cent in 2025?26 and collection efficiency moving from 86 per cent to 100 per cent. Aggregate technical and commercial losses declined from 35.12 per cent to 11.54 per cent and the gap between cost of supply and revenue turned positive. The rollout of prepaid smart metering has reduced electricity theft and virtually eliminated arrears, strengthening consumer confidence.

He said Bihar had generated 10 billion (bn) data points to analyse consumption patterns, forecast demand and support planning, and the State has installed zero point two million (mn) Distribution Transformer (DT) metres for real?time monitoring, predictive maintenance and improved asset planning. The successful implementation of time?of?day tariffs is supporting optimisation of consumption and demand?side management. These measures are enabling more targeted interventions and better operational decision?making.

He noted the next phase of reforms will promote industrialisation, with plans for 13 greenfield satellite townships and supporting infrastructure, and reported a peak demand of 9,475 megawatt (MW) this year. Urban supply is being provided for 23?24 hours and rural supply for 22?23 hours, marking a shift from availability to quality and resilience of supply. Integrated platforms such as GIS?enabled asset mapping, digital asset registers and a customer relationship management system are being deployed alongside the Suvidha Bihar Portal, which offers 21 online consumer services.

He added that the State is expanding rooftop solar, solarising agricultural feeders and implementing the PM?KUSUM Scheme while readying the distribution network through smart grid technologies and advanced analytics to support higher renewable integration. The Energy Secretary called for greater collaboration among governments, utilities, technology providers, research institutions and consumers to build a resilient and digitally enabled power sector. Panellists at the session emphasised that partnerships and technological innovation will be central to accelerating the clean energy transition.