Parliament Question: Upgradation of Power Infrastructure in Rural Areas

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF POWER LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.3444 ANSWERED ON 12.03.2026 UPGRADATION OF POWER INFRASTRUCTURE IN RURAL AREAS †3444. SHRI RAMASHANKAR VIDHARTHI RAJBHAR: Will the Minister of POWER be pleased to state: (a) whether it has come to the notice of the Government that consumers are facing problems such as incorrect readings, excessive bills, rapid depletion of prepaid balance and technical glitches after the installation of smart metres in various States particularly in Uttar Pradesh and if so, the corrective steps taken by the Government to resolve them; (b) whether several villages in Deoria and Ballia districts of Purvanchal still rely on unsafe power supply based on bamboo poles and face the brunt of low voltage, frequent tripping and dilapidated lines and if so, the number of such affected villages and the proposed timeline for permanent line upgrades; and (c) whether any special scheme, transformer capacity augmentation, line strengthening or smart grid project has been sanctioned to ensure quality 24x7 electricity supply in rural areas and if so, the details thereof? A N S W E R THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF POWER (SHRI SHRIPAD NAIK) (a): Installation of smart meters is a key intervention under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), launched in July 2021, which provides benefits such as accurate billing based on actual consumption, elimination of manual meter reading errors, convenience of recharge for consumers and the ability to monitor electricity consumption. Smart meters also help distribution utilities in improving collection efficiency, enabling automatic energy accounting, improved load forecasting and facilitating an enabling ecosystem for energy transition. Initially, some challenges were reported due to limited consumer awareness about the benefits of smart meters. To enhance consumer confidence and address concerns, the following measures have been taken: (i) Prioritising installation of smart meters in Government establishments and commercial and industrial consumers and subsequently for other consumers after successful demonstration of benefits. (ii) Various advisories and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) have been issued by the Ministry which include: ………2.- 2 - • Incentivising consumers for installation of prepaid smart meters through rebates in bills; • No penalty on consumers based on maximum demand recorded by smart meters; • Mechanism for recovery of past arrears in easy instalments; • Installation of check meters to enhance confidence in the accuracy of smart meters; • Provision of mobile applications for consumers to track electricity consumption and facilitate convenient recharge; • Advance alerts regarding balance availability and emergency credit facilities. (iii) Consumer awareness programmes are being organised by distribution utilities, nodal agencies and AMI service providers through pamphlets, banners, awareness camps and social media outreach. As a result, more than 5.97 crore smart meters have been installed across the country under various schemes. Further, a robust multi-tier grievance redressal mechanism has been established under the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020. Consumers may approach the internal grievance redressal system of the distribution utility and, if not satisfied, the Consumer Grievance Redressal Forum (CGRF) and subsequently the Electricity Ombudsman for resolution of grievances (b) & (c): Electricity being a concurrent subject, supply and distribution of electricity to the consumers is within the purview of the respective State Government/ Distribution Utility. Further, as per Rule (10) of the Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Rules, 2020, the distribution licensee shall supply 24x7 power to all consumers. However, the Commission may specify lower hours of supply for some categories of consumers like agriculture. Government of India (GoI) is currently supplementing the efforts of the States through the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) which has the objective of improving the reliability and quality of supply of power through a financially sustainable and operationally efficient distribution sector. Under the scheme, financial assistance is being provided to the distribution utilities for upgradation of distribution infrastructure works such as creation of new substations, upgradation/ augmentation of sub-stations and distribution transformers, replacement of conductors, new HT/ LT lines, feeder bifurcation, feeder segregation etc. have been sanctioned under the scheme based on proposal submitted the States. Under RDSS, works worth Rs. 2.83 lakh crore for distribution infrastructure works including smart metering works have been sanctioned including Rs 40,739 crore for Uttar Pradesh. Details of works sanctioned under RDSS for Deoria and Ballia district of Uttar Pradesh are at Annexure-I. In addition, various Distribution infrastructure works have been undertaken by the State under their business plan to resolve the voltage problems, details of the same are at Annexure-II. ************ANNEXURE-I ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PARTS (b) & (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3444 ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 12.03.2026 ************* Sanction details under RDSS 1. Deoria District (Rs. Cr) Sr. No. Details Project Cost 1 Smart Metering works 246.21 2 Loss Reduction works 162.72 Total 408.93 Loss Reduction works Sr. No Description Unit Sanctioned quantity 1 High Tension (HT) line Ckm. 555.72 2 Low Tension (LT) line Ckm. 1,696.80 3 New DTs Nos 142 4 Households sanctioned for Electrification Nos. 3,829 2. Balia District (Rs. Cr) Sr. No. Details Project Cost 1 Smart Metering works 199.9 2 Loss Reduction works 299.23 Total 499.13 Loss Reduction works Sr. No Description Unit Sanctioned quantity 1 High Tension (HT) line Ckm. 787.35 2 Low Tension (LT) line Ckm. 3,441 3 New DTs Nos 109 4 Households sanctioned for Electrification Nos. 1,942 ************ANNEXURE-II ANNEXURE REFERRED IN REPLY TO PARTS (b) & (c) OF UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3444 ANSWERED IN THE LOK SABHA ON 12.03.2026 ************* Sanction details under Business Plan of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Ltd. Deoria Installation of 167 new distribution transformers district Augmentation of 1140 distribution transformers 9 nos. of 11 KV feeder bifurcation works 28 nos. of 11 KV line reconductoring works Ballia Removal of bamboo poles in 72 hamlets district Augmentation of 1535 distribution transformers Installation of 93 additional distribution transformers 40 nos. of 11 KV feeder bifurcation works 18 nos. of 11 KV line reconductoring works ***********