SRINAGAR, Oct 04: The Union Home Secretary, Ajay Kumar Bhalla, today chaired a high-level meeting with the Chief Secretaries of the Union Territories to review the progress of Smart Metering and power sector reforms.
Chief Secretary J&K, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta along with Principal Secretary, Power Development Department participated in the meeting.
It was informed that a total of 20 lakh smart meters will be installed in Jammu and Kashmir. While installation of 8 lakh smart meters in J&K has been sanctioned under PMDP/DDUGJY&IPDS, the remaining 12 lakh meters will be sanctioned under the ‘Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme’ for which the requisite preparatory work is currently underway.
It was informed that IT hardware has been supplied and installed in Data Centre in Srinagar and Data Recovery Centre in Jammu, besides integrating the system with utility billing system.
It was further informed that user acceptance testing is presently underway and shall be completed by 16.10.2021.
The Chief Secretary, J&K, Dr. Arun Kumar Mehta informed that out of 10600 meters supplied, 5000 meters have been installed as on date. He assured that the Government is on course towards installing 1 lakh meter each in Jammu and Kashmir by March 2022.
The Union Home Secretary observed that implementation of reforms under ‘Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme’ needs to be expedited to improve quality and reliability of power supply to consumers and put in place a financially and operationally efficient distribution sector.
Dr Mehta further observed that if installation of smart meters could be completed in the cities of Jammu and Srinagar, the UT would have more or less achieved the targets set forth under the Schemes as most of the power is consumed in these two capital cities.
The Union Home Secretary while agreeing with Dr Mehta’s observation, advised him to extend full support to the executing agencies for timely achievements of the milestones in the Schemes.
Dr Mehta assured that the Government of Jammu & Kashmir will fully support the executing agencies in their efforts to meet the project timelines.
