Parliament Question: Progress under Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1102 ANSWERED ON 09.02.2026 PROGRESS UNDER REVAMPED DISTRIBUTION SECTOR SCHEME 1102 SHRI RYAGA KRISHNAIAH: SHRI LAHAR SINGH SIROYA: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state: (a) the details and objectives of the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS); (b) the current status and achievement of RDSS implementation and number of States that have adopted the said scheme; and (c) the total funds allocated under RDSS, State-wise, details thereof; and (d) whether advanced technologies for reducing the distribution losses are being implemented under the scheme; and (e) if so, the details thereof? A N S W E R THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF POWER (SHRI SHRIPAD NAIK) (a) to (c): Government of India (GoI) launched the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) in July 2021 with the objective of improving the quality and reliability of power supply to consumers through a financially sustainable and operationally efficient distribution Sector. The scheme has an outlay of Rs. 3,03,758 Cr. and estimated Gross Budgetary Support (GBS) from Central Government of Rs. 97,631 Cr. Under the scheme, financial assistance is being provided to the Distribution Utilities (excluding Private Sector Utilities) for loss reduction infrastructure works and smart metering works. Projects worth Rs. 1.53 lakh crore for loss reduction infrastructure and Rs. 1.31 lakh crore for smart metering works have been sanctioned under the scheme. Sanctioned Loss reduction works include replacement of old/frayed conductors, upgradation/augmentation of Distribution transformers (DT)/sub-stations, feeder segregation works etc. Further, on-grid electrification works have been sanctioned for 13,65,139 households wherever found feasible. This includes households belonging to Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) identified under PM-JANMAN (Pradhan Mantri Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan), households belonging to Scheduled Tribes identified under DA-JGUA (Dharti Aabha Janjatiya Gram Utkarsh Abhiyan), households belonging to Scheduled Caste identified under Pradhan Mantri Anusuchit Jaati Abhyuday Yojna (PM-AJAY) and households in border areas under Vibrant Village Programme (VVP). Overall, the physical progress of Loss reduction works achieved till date is ~37%.Further, smart metering works have been sanctioned for 19.79 crore consumers, 2.05 lakh feeders and 52.53 lakh Distribution Transformers as part of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). Till date, smart meters have been installed for 4.04 crore consumers, 1.63 lakh feeders and 13.57 lakh Distribution Transformers under the scheme. Overall, 5.59 crore smart meters have been installed across the country under various schemes. Up to January, 2026, funds amounting to Rs. 38,803 cr. have been released under RDSS as per the scheme guidelines. The release of funds under the scheme is contingent on improvement in operational and financial performance of the utilities which, in addition to other initiatives taken by GoI, has helped in bringing discipline in payment of Government subsidies and Govt. department dues to the utilities, regular issuance of tariff orders, timely publishing of accounts, non-creation of regulatory assets, etc. As a result of collective efforts of the Centre and States/ UTs, the Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) loss of distribution utilities at national level have reduced from 21.91% in FY21 to 15.04% in FY25 and ACS-ARR Gap has reduced from Rs. 0.69/kWh in FY21 to Rs. 0.06/kWh in FY25. State/UT-wise physical and financial progress of works sanctioned under RDSS (up to January, 2026) is at Annexure (I to III). (d) & (e) : RDSS aims to improve the efficiency and financial health of power distribution utilities by leveraging advanced technologies. Key technologies include: i. Implementation of SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition)/ DMS (Distribution Management System) works in 394 towns amounting to Rs. 2,389 Cr sanctioned under the scheme. This will enable remote monitoring and control, help reduce outages and improve response times to faults, thereby improving the efficiency and reliability of power distribution networks. ii. Smart meters, as part of Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), provide real-time consumption data, helping consumers manage their usage and enabling utilities to detect and curb electricity theft. By analyzing data collected from smart meters, utilities can identify areas of high loss, optimize grid operations, and improve billing and collection efficiency. iii. Under the scheme, smart distribution works amounting to Rs 8,052 crore have been sanctioned which includes works like GIS substations, Distribution Transformer (DT) health management, undergrounding of HT/LT lines and system augmentation/ modernization works. **********ANNEXURE-I ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1102 ANSWERED IN THE RAJYA SABHA ON 09.02.2026 ************* Details of funds sanctioned under RDSS Sanctioned cost (Rs. In Cr.) State/UT Smart metering Loss Reduction Total Andaman and Nicobar Islands 54 462 516 Andhra Pradesh 4,128 10,708 14,836 Arunachal Pradesh 184 1,042 1,226 Assam 4,050 3,395 7,444 Bihar 2,021 10,559 12,581 Chhattisgarh 4,105 4,021 8,126 Delhi 13 324 337 Goa 469 247 716 Gujarat 10,642 6,089 16,731 Haryana 0 6,794 6,794 Himachal Pradesh 1,788 2,327 4,116 Jammu & Kashmir 1,064 5,034 6,098 Jharkhand 858 3,468 4,326 Karnataka 0 45 45 Kerala 8,231 3,108 11,339 Ladakh 0 876 876 Madhya Pradesh 8,911 9,738 18,649 Maharashtra 15,215 17,238 32,453 Manipur 121 627 748 Meghalaya 310 1,232 1,542 Mizoram 182 322 503 Nagaland 208 466 674 Puducherry 251 84 335 Punjab 5,769 3,873 9,642 Rajasthan 9,715 18,693 28,408 Sikkim 97 420 518 Tamil Nadu 19,235 9,568 28,803 Telangana 0 120 120 Tripura 319 598 917 Uttar Pradesh 18,956 21,782 40,739 Uttarakhand 1,106 2,371 3,477 West Bengal 12,670 7,223 19,893 Total 1,30,671 1,52,854 2,83,525 ************ANNEXURE-II ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1102 ANSWERED IN THE RAJYA SABHA ON 09.02.2026 ************* Physical progress of loss reduction works under RDSS State Physical Progress Andaman and Nicobar 0% Andhra Pradesh 28% Arunachal Pradesh 22% Assam 53% Bihar 49% Chhattisgarh 51% Delhi 0% Goa 82% Gujarat 51% Haryana 16% Himachal Pradesh 4% Jammu and Kashmir 38% Jharkhand 48% Kerala 28% Ladakh 8% Madhya Pradesh 51% Maharashtra 38% Manipur 17% Meghalaya 21% Mizoram 51% Nagaland 13% Puducherry 29% Punjab 18% Rajasthan 16% Sikkim 18% Tamil Nadu 12% Tripura 52% Uttar Pradesh 43% Uttarakhand 20% West Bengal 58% Total 37.05% ************ANNEXURE-III ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1102 ANSWERED IN THE RAJYA SABHA ON 09.02.2026 ************* State/UT-wise Smart Metering works sanctioned and installed under RDSS (upto Jan., 2026) Consumer Distribution Feeder Total Meters Meters(Nos.) Transformer Meters Meters(Nos.) State/UTs (Nos.) Sanctioned Installed Sanctioned Installed Sanctioned Installed Sanctioned Installed Andaman and 83,573 - 1,148 - 114 - 84,835 - Nicobar Andhra 56,08,846 22,88,414 2,93,140 85,577 17,358 8,438 59,19,344 23,82,429 Pradesh Arunachal 2,87,446 52,179 10,116 311 688 263 2,98,250 52,753 Pradesh Assam 63,64,798 48,38,045 77,547 57,731 2,782 2,879 64,45,127 48,98,655 Bihar 23,50,000 19,93,875 2,50,726 1,84,644 6,427 5,799 26,07,153 21,84,318 Chhattisgarh 59,62,115 33,84,390 2,10,644 70,888 6,720 5,963 61,79,479 34,61,241 Delhi - 766 - 2,755 - 3,521 - Goa 7,41,160 - 8,369 - 827 650 7,50,356 650 Gujarat 1,64,87,100 36,75,132 3,00,487 1,36,242 - 1,67,87,587 38,11,374 Himachal 28,00,945 7,67,964 39,012 23,328 1,951 1,650 28,41,908 7,92,942 Pradesh Jammu and 14,07,045 5,57,854 88,037 17,147 2,608 1,445 14,97,690 5,76,446 Kashmir Jharkhand 13,41,306 5,90,010 19,512 936 1,226 842 13,62,044 5,91,788 Kerala 1,32,89,361 1,69,263 87,615 217 6,025 2,904 1,33,83,001 1,72,384 Madhya 1,29,80,102 31,83,005 4,19,396 1,44,110 29,708 25,636 1,34,29,206 33,52,751 PMraadheasrahs htra 2,35,64,747 85,34,398 4,10,905 2,69,116 29,214 30,790 2,40,04,866 88,34,304 Manipur 1,54,400 33,287 11,451 664 357 236 1,66,208 34,187 Meghalaya 4,60,000 - 11,419 - 1,324 - 4,72,743 - Mizoram 2,89,383 27,919 2,300 393 398 295 2,92,081 28,607 Nagaland 3,17,210 30,571 6,276 845 392 105 3,23,878 31,521 Puducherry 4,03,767 11,747 3,105 7 180 - 4,07,052 11,754 Punjab 87,84,807 - 1,84,044 - 12,563 - 89,81,414 - Rajasthan 1,42,74,956 23,76,944 4,34,608 31,015 27,128 25,391 1,47,36,692 24,33,350 Sikkim 1,44,680 80,767 3,229 1,469 633 471 1,48,542 82,707 Tamil Nadu 3,00,00,000 - 4,72,500 - 18,274 9,746 3,04,90,774 9,746 Tripura 5,47,489 1,61,835 14,908 6,199 473 473 5,62,870 1,68,507 Uttar Pradesh 2,69,79,056 66,92,131 15,26,801 2,66,836 20,874 25,466 2,85,26,731 69,84,433 Uttarakhand 15,87,870 4,40,201 59,212 8,084 2,602 2,496 16,49,684 4,50,781 West Bengal 2,07,17,969 5,51,499 3,05,419 51,150 11,874 10,811 2,10,35,262 6,13,460 RDSS Total 19,79,30,131 4,04,41,430 52,52,692 13,56,909 2,05,475 1,62,749 20,33,88,298 4,19,61,088 Note: Upto Jan., 2026, 4.19 Cr smart meters have been installed under RDSS and 5.59 Cr smart meters under various schemes including RDSS. ***************