New Delhi: Under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) financial assistance for projects worth Rs 1.53 lakh crore for loss reduction infrastructure works has been sanctioned, the Parliament was informed on Monday.
Further, financial assistance worth Rs 1.31 lakh crore for smart metering works have been sanctioned under the scheme, MoS Power, Shripad Naik, said in the Rajya Sabha.
Financial assistance under the scheme includes work related to digitalisation of distribution utilities covering smart meters works for 19.79 crore consumers, 2.05 lakh feeders and 52.53 lakh Distribution Transformers (DTs), the statement from Ministry of Power said.
SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)/ DMS (Distribution Management System) works have been sanctioned for 394 towns amounting to Rs 2,627 crore.
IT/OT works such as enterprise resource planning, unified billing, GIS and real time data acquisition systems amount to Rs 3,999 crore.
Smart distribution works amounting to Rs 8,608 crore were sanctioned for seven cities, which include SCADA and smart technology works, GIS substations, Distribution Transformer health management, undergrounding of HT/LT lines and system augmentation/ modernisation works.
Funds amounting to Rs 47,124 crore have been released till date under RDSS since FY2023, which includes Rs 2,733 crore released for smart metering works.
The government has initiated India Energy Stack (IES), which is envisioned to create a universal digital enablement for data exchange across the power sector and to enable the adoption of digitalisation across the country.
For training and capacity building of DISCOM personnel in areas including digital systems, under RDSS, allocation of Rs 100.9 crore was made, out of which, Rs 23.36 crore has been utilized till July, 2026, and a total of 14,853 personnel have been trained.
“Electricity being a concurrent subject, distribution of electricity to consumers, including the operations of the Distribution Companies (DISCOMs) and digitalisation,” falls within the purview of the respective distribution utility, managed by the respective state government and State Electricity Regulatory Commission, the minister noted.
(IANS)
