Srinagar, May 10 (UNI) Union Home Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla on Tuesday reviewed the progress of privatisation of power distribution and smart metering in the Union Territories (UTs), an official spokesman said.
In this regard, a high-level meeting was chaired in Srinagar with the Chief Secretaries of UTs. Chief Secretary of Jammu and Kashmir Arun Kumar Mehta was also present during the meet.
A detailed presentation was given by the Ministry of Power, showing progress and status achieved in privatisation of power distribution and installation of smart meters in the UTs.
It was informed that 63,844 smart meters have been installed in the UT of J&K and the target of 1.15 lakh meters will be achieved by July as the installation process has been expedited..
During the meeting, it was also informed that the Request for Proposal (RFP) for six lakh meters was published on January 1, 2022, which is going to be finalised soon.
Similarly, the project proposal for remaining 14.95 lakh meters as per Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) guidelines is under formulation, the meeting was informed.
Chief Secretary Mehta informed that under Stage-I, a report has been prepared highlighting advisory, which included human resources policy and employee handbook compendium, peak hour and unrestricted energy demand.
Besides forecast along with estimation of Capex requirement, opening of balance sheet of two DISCOMs, sharing of common resources between Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh and statutory compliance and options for future along with pros and cons of each option.
It was also informed that Stage-II will be taken up after completion of Stage-I.
The Union Home Secretary expressed satisfaction that the UT administration was extending full support to the executing agencies for timely achievements of the milestones in the Schemes and assured all cooperation of the Union Government to ensure that the prepaid metering will be taken forward in a focused manner.
