Patna: Bihar's power sector got a shot in the arm, when Bihar State Power Holding Company Limited (BSPHCL) green flagged the installation of Smart Prepaid Meter (SPM) in rural areas of the state. BSPHCL has already installed more than 11.5 lakh SPMs in urban areas of Bihar.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar at a function in the state capital recently inaugurated the installation of SPMs at Sabour in Bhagalpur and Runnisaidpur at Sitamarhi, marking the beginning of a big move of the installation of SPMs in rural areas.

The launch of SPM in rural areas, would go a long way in tightening the revenue collection and maintaining a healthy balance sheet of two DISCOMs - North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (NBPDCL) and South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (SBPDCL).

The DISCOMs across the country are struggling to cut their AT & C losses and many own dues to the Centre. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also flagged the issue and very curtly had hit out at defaulter states in July this year. 

In his tweet he had said: "For long, India's power sector has been plagued by the vicious cycle of under investment and pending dues. It is time state governments address this issue of pending dues to ensure that the people of our country get a good power supply."

The Chief Minister sought assurance from officials that by 2025 the installations of SPMs would be completed in all households of the state. "Initially we have set up a target of installing 25 SPMs in urban areas, of which half the journey has been covered. In the next stage, we will aggressively start SPM installations in rural areas," said Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Sanjeev Hans.

An official on condition of anonymity said the number of SPMs to be installed in Bihar could increase to about 60 lakh, as the rural areas would be covered under the programme.

Massive revenue collection drive; tightening noose around power bill defaulters; sustained awareness drives on social media and physical format have started yielding results for BSPHCL.

Take this: In the first six months of the current fiscal, 1.20 crore consumers paid timely electricity bills, which is 29 lakh more than last years’ figures, while the revenue collection has seen 38 per cent rise amounting to Rs 6,237 crore in the same period.

Hans said, “Through our strategic steps, we have cut our losses to more than 30% and we aim to further reduce it to 11 per cent in next four years,” he said.

The challenges for installation of SPM in rural areas would be gargantuan, given the fact the consumers have opposed the move. However, both Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and CMD Sanjeev Hans are known for turning challenges to opportunities. /BI/