Lucknow, November 14 (IANS). Union Power Minister Manohar Lal said on Thursday that smart meters will be installed in Uttar Pradesh. It will start with government offices in the first phase.
After chairing a meeting on the issues of urban development and energy here, the Union Minister said, “The Central Government has given me the responsibility of the Energy and Urban Development Department. I am going across the country and taking review meetings. This issue will be discussed in the meeting. Attention is being paid to ensure that there are no problems in the projects being run. Also, work has to be done on new plans. He said that the review has been completed in 16 states in three months. It is expected that this work will be done in all the states in the next three months.
He informed that smart meters will be installed in Uttar Pradesh. The state will progress by installing smart meters. Smart meters will be installed in government offices and government colonies in the first phase. After this it will be installed in commercial complexes and other places. The complaints people have regarding smart meters will also be resolved.
Regarding the Lucknow Metro project, the Union Minister has said that a meeting is to be held with the officials regarding this. After this we will see whether the matter is stuck at the state government level or the central government level.
On the complaint of getting bills worth lakhs after installing smart meters, the Union Minister said that consumers should complain about such matters to the electricity department. He expressed confidence that the Electricity Department of Uttar Pradesh will take cognizance of this and take action. It is not possible that someone is consuming less electricity and being billed more. This may have happened due to error in meter reading.
Regarding 24-hour power supply in Uttar Pradesh, the Union Minister said that the government is making efforts in this direction. New power plants will be set up in the state.
In response to a question, he said that at least payment of electricity bills should start. First, prepaid meters will be installed in government departments, so that the departments have to pay in advance for electricity before using it. Otherwise, they will not be able to get electricity. We have directed all states to reconcile the data with the Finance Ministry to recover the dues in a timely manner and ensure proper subsidy allocation. Sanctions have been imposed for defaulters, meaning they will not be able to buy electricity until they clear their dues.
Union Minister Manohar Lal also inaugurated the two-day Distribution Utility Meet- 2024.
–IANS
DKM/AKJ
