PANAJI
Union Minister of State for Power and New & Renewable Energy Shripad Naik on Tuesday informed the Rajya Sabha that the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) has achieved major progress in strengthening India’s power distribution network. Replying to an unstarred question, he said infrastructure and smart metering works worth Rs 2.83 lakh crore have been sanctioned under the scheme, including Rs 1.21 lakh crore as Gross Budgetary Support from the Centre.
Naik said RDSS focuses on modernising distribution systems, reducing technical and commercial losses, and improving the financial health of power distribution companies. As of June 2025, 20.33 crore smart meters have been sanctioned, of which 3.42 crore have been installed. Across all Central schemes, a total of 4.76 crore smart meters have been deployed nationwide. All sanctioned meters are expected to be installed by March 2028.
To curb Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) losses, the government has introduced several reforms, including performance-linked funding, infrastructure upgrades, feeder segregation, prepaid smart metering, and ensuring cost-reflective tariffs. States undertaking power reforms have also been given an additional borrowing limit of 0.5% of GSDP. National AT&C losses have dropped from 21.91% in 2021 to 16.16% in 2025.
Responding to another question, Naik said agro-residue is increasingly being used for power generation under the biomass co-firing policy in coal-based power plants. Until 31 October 2025, about 34.21 lakh metric tonnes of biomass pellets have been co-fired, helping cut an estimated 40 lakh tonnes of COâ‚‚ emissions while creating new income opportunities for farmers.
