Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) and National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) have entered into a joint venture, IntelliSmart Infrastructure Private Limited (IntelliSmart), to implement, finance and operate the smart meter roll-out programme of power distribution companies.
Smart meters will lay the foundation for smart grids which will be crucial to meet challenges of the evolving energy mix and the Government of India’s target of providing uninterrupted 24x7 power supply to every Indian.
Announcing the joint venture, Saurabh Kumar, MD, EESL said, “India has embarked upon a mission to reduce AT&C losses; proven world over for enabling universal, transparent and responsible energy consumption, and smart meters can play a central role in enabling such an endeavour. We are proud to have an established and experienced institution like NIIF partner with us in scaling our ongoing efforts to transform the market for this technology, and to accelerate its application across the country. This venture will support the ambitions of ongoing government programmes, such as UDAY and National Smart Grid Mission.”
The Government of India plans to install 25 crore smart meters in the next few years. With the replacement of 25 crore conventional meters with smart meters, billing efficiency can improve from 80 percent to 100 percent, and has the potential to increase DISCOM revenues by ₹1,104,00 crore.
Sujoy Bose, MD & CEO, NIIF added, “IntelliSmart will support the efforts of the Indian power sector as it strives towards delivering dependable 24/7 service to end-consumers. Smart meters will play a transformational role in bringing efficiencies and generating significant commercial benefits for power distribution companies, while at the same time empowering end-consumers to make informed choices regarding power consumption. We are delighted to partner with EESL, which has a proven track record of driving energy efficiency by operating at a substantial scale through its strong relationship with all stakeholders.”
