Given its ideological opposition to power sector privatisation and the high cost of the meters, Kerala has not installed a single smart meter.
Published Jul 15, 2023 | 11:00 AM ⚊ Updated Jul 15, 2023 | 11:35 AM
Smart Meters Mandatory for New Connections in South Interior Karnataka from July 1
A familiar mix of politics, ideology, and money is yet again pitting the ruling Left Front in Kerala against the Union government — ironically, over a project the LDF itself had promised to implement in its manifesto for the last Assembly election.
At the core of the latest confrontation are “smart” power meters that the Union government insists must be installed by every single consumer of electricity in the country — be they domestic, commercial, or industrial.
A smart meter records information on consumption, voltage levels, and other parameters, and communicates it to both the consumer and power suppliers.
It allows consumers to analyse their energy consumption patterns and could potentially help them reduce electricity bills. It also eliminates the human error factor in the physical reading of meters.
As part of a national mission to replace all existing conventional power metres with smart ones by December 31, 2025, Kerala was directed by the Union government to install at least 37 lakh smart meters in Phase 1, which began in June this year.
However, Kerala has not installed even a single smart meter till date — despite a threat by the Union Power Ministry that it would withhold aid to the tune of ₹2,200 crore if the state failed to kick off the project.
Kerala was, interestingly, among the first states to welcome the “revolutionary” project, with the CPI(M) itself extolling its virtues.
But stiff opposition from the pro-Left national trade unions, as well as a diktat from the Politburo, the party’s highest decision-making body, has caused the LDF government to furiously backpedal.
The pro-Left trade unions, the Centre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU) and the All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC), have raised serious objections to the project, describing it as a step toward privatising energy distribution nationwide. The unions said they would resist its implementation.
Then last week, the Politburo came out against the project, contending that its implementation would place a severe financial burden on the low-income strata of the population, apart from speeding up the privatisation process underway in the energy sector.
The Politburo described the move as anti-poor and anti-farmer, and exhorted the cadres to oppose it.
The LDF government in Kerala was left with little option than to cold-shoulder the project.
The ₹8,200 crore project is, however, now creating a rift within the LDF government, with state Electricity Minister and JD(S) nominee K Krishnankutty championing the implementation of the project in the state as envisaged by the Union government.
In the neighbouring Karnataka, the JD(S) is inching closer to BJP and taking a stand in favour of installing smart power meters.
Top officials of Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) also favour the project, calling it an inevitability and a necessary technological upgradation that would be foolish to oppose.
It is not a view shared by the CITU and AITUC, unions that have considerable clout among the KSEB’s field staff, and have threatened to disrupt any move to implement the project.
Once the project is fully implemented, it is estimated that Kerala will have to install 1.32 crore smart meters across the state, buying the equipment from leading private players in the field.
The trade unions, on their part, have demanded that public sector companies must manufacture the meters at affordable rates, and have sought assurances that the energy sector will not be opened up to private players.
As per information available with the Union Power Ministry, Kerala is showing defiance at a time a total of 66.18 lakh smart meters have been installed across 18 states since the middle of June.
Among the 18 states, Assam, Bihar, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi have installed over one lakh smart meters each so far.
At the same time, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Mizoram, and Odisha have installed fewer than 20,000 meters each.
Tripura installed 43,081 metres, while Telangana installed 18,882, and the figures for Karnataka and Gujarat, respectively, are 21,874 and 23,760.
These last named four states are implementing the project’s pilot under the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS).
Other than Kerala, Maharashtra, and states like Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand, Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, and Sikkim have not yet begun implementation of the project.
But the pressure is exclusively on Kerala.
As part of the policy, the Union government gives the implementing states a subsidy of between 15 and 22 percent. But Kerala feels the subsidy is not enough to ensure relief to lower-income families.
KSEB officials said three private companies had taken part in the tender process initiated by Kerala for the purchase of smart meters, and the lowest quote was ₹3,475.16 crore.
If the government had accepted that tender, each consumer would have to pay ₹9,500 for a smart meter.
The trade unions and CPI(M) feel this amount is unaffordable for lower-income families, which constitute almost half the power consumers in Kerala.
They also say the cash-strapped state government is not in a position to ensure the smart meters are free of cost to people in need.
“Many states have been forced to implement the scheme and thereby withdraw from the responsibility of electricity distribution and hand it over to private corporate companies for profit maximisation. This will impose an unbearable burden on people with low incomes, and the farmers. This project must be scrapped immediately”, the Politburo had said in a statement after its last meeting.
Electricity Minister K Krishnankutty’s office told South First that the government would soon evolve a way to tackle the issue, presumably developing an alternative that will bring down the financial burden on families, apart from resisting the privatisation of the power sector.
According to experts in the power sector, the new-generation energy meters will be used to record electricity consumption in real-time, and accurately. It is proposed to replace the existing slab system.
There will be no fixed charge for consumers. However, the rates will be higher during the night.
Insiders in the LDF confirmed to South First that the state government feels the central aid worth ₹2,200 crore is crucial to tide over the prevailing crisis, and so Vijayan would evolve strategies that would dilute the Politburo stand and bring the powerful trade unions to the negotiating table with the BJP-RSS dispensation that runs the Union government.
The trade unions and the CPI(M) may suggest a formula to reduce the smart meter price by increasing government subsidies. Whether the Union government will agree is another matter altogether.
Power sector privatisation is a hard nut to crack, the Left unions feel. They also realise that privatisation is now happening almost everywhere except in Kerala.
