Adani Electricity to spend Rs 5 bn on Mumbai smart metering

Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd (AEML) will invest Rs 5 billion to install smart meters for 700,000 consumers in Mumbai by the end of 2023.

The power distribution company (discom), a unit of the listed Adani Transmission, said 700,000 smart meters is the first phase target and the remaining two million consumers will get smart meters by the end of FY25.

Smaller rival Tata Power has also said that it is on a similar drive of installing smart meters, aiming to have 100,000 lakh of its 750,000 consumers under the technologically better meters by March 2023, and cover all consumers by FY25-end.

AEML has already installed 110,000 smart meters, and the remaining 590,000 lakh will be done by 2023-end to finish the first phase, chief operating officer Kapil Sharma told reporters.

The meters will help consumers to get real-time updates on power consumption, and also enable the company to improve its collection efficiency in case of non-payment as it can disconnect a meter remotely, Sharma said.

Each smart meter costs up to Rs 1,000 extra, but the savings in the operating expenses accruing over time outweigh the initial cost, the company's managing director and chief executive Kandarp Patel said.

The cost of the additional expenditure will have to be borne by the customers finally, but the energy bill hikes will be "insignificant" given the advantages of such meters, Patel said.

The Rs 500 crore capital expenditure is being done through internal accruals and the company has no plans for any equity infusion, Patel said.

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