Union Power Minister Manohar Lal on Friday directed states to “saturate” installation of prepaid smart meters in all government establishments, including colonies, by August 2025.
The minister also asked the states to complete installation of smart meters for commercial and industrial consumers and high load consumers by November 2025.
Lal made the remarks chairing the Regional Conference for the Southern Region States/UTs in Bengaluru, the Ministry of Power (MoP) said in a statement.
He further said such regional conferences will help identify specific challenges and possible solutions. He mentioned the importance of encouraging energy-conscious behaviour and using energy-efficient appliances for energy sustainability.
“The minister emphasised that the pre-paid smart meters is a ways to timely release of government department dues. He asked states to saturate installation of prepaid smart meters in all government establishments including government colonies by August 2025 and to complete installation of smart meters for commercial and industrial consumers and high load consumers by November 2025,” the statement said.
Lal said states should, while meeting their resource adequacy plan, work on having adequate power generation mix, including addition of nuclear generation capacity.
The states should work towards resolving the intra-state transmission sector challenges. He also highlighted that to develop the infrastructure the states should leverage the scheme announced in Union Budget 2025-26, including the scheme of Rs 1.5 lakh crore interest-free loan to states for 50-year for infrastructure development.
He urged all states to submit proposals for third phase of the Green Energy Corridor (GEC-III).
States should promote renewable energy, coupled with storage solutions, so as to have energy reliability and to collectively meet India’s international climate commitments.
Meanwhile, in a separate statement, the ministry said Lal has called for timely clearance of dues and resolution of transmission bottlenecks in Karnataka.
During the meeting, the Karanataka government made a detailed presentation on the current status of power generation, transmission, and distribution in state.
Issues such as the generation mix, challenges in Right of Way (RoW) for transmission infrastructure, and the need for support in improving distribution infrastructure were discussed.
The minister urged the state to take steps to reduce annual financial losses of its power utilities and work towards implementing cost-reflective tariffs.
