Shimla: Smart meter project is going to be launched soon in Himachal. After the consent of the Central Government, the tender process of smart meter has reached the final stage.
As soon as the tender process is completed, the process of installing smart meters across the state will begin. Till now smart meters have been installed only in Shimla and Dharamshala.
Out of this Rs 3700 crore project, Rs 1900 crore is to be spent on smart meters and the tender process for this is now at the final stage. It is noteworthy that the price of smart meter is believed to be around ten thousand rupees.
Consumers will not have to pay this in lump sum. Rather, recovery will be done from consumers in installments in the name of meter rent or other facilities. Consumers may have to pay Rs 100 to Rs 125 extra along with electricity bill.
However, up to 125 units of electricity is free in the state and the state government is not even charging meter rent from such consumers. Out of about 26 lakh consumers in the state, there are 15 lakh who are consuming up to 125 units of electricity.
In lieu of this, the government is paying a subsidy of Rs 1200 crore every year to the Electricity Board. It is being paid in different quarterly installments. If we talk about the Electricity Board here, Rs 3700 crore of RDSS scheme has been divided into two parts.
Of these, Rs 1800 crore is to be spent on necessary maintenance. In this expenditure, the sharing of 90-10 is fixed between the Central Government and the Electricity Board, whereas out of the Rs 1900 crore of smart meter, only about Rs 400 crore will be given to the Electricity Board as subsidy.
The board will have to spend Rs 1500 crore on installing meters. On the other hand, the burden of those who consume less than 125 units of electricity is likely to fall on the state government.
The union has organized two big events in Nagrota Bagwan of Kangra and Jogindernagar of Mandi and has expressed massive opposition to smart meters at both these places.
Will meet the Chief Minister on smart meter
Electricity Board Employees Union General Secretary Heera Lal Verma said that the employees have met the Chief Minister against the smart meter tender process. During this time, the Chief Minister had ordered to stop the tender process, but now this process has started again.
If the tender process is completed, it will have a big impact on employees and consumers. The employee union will agitate along with the consumers in future. In this regard, the Chief Minister will be met once again and informed about the harm caused by smart meters.