M'shtra utility to come hard on power theft

The Maharashtra Electricity Distribution Company (Mahadiscom) plans to use automated reading meters (ARMs) to check the tampering of electricity meters.

It plans to stop meter manipulation throughout the state by 2006 end. Once the meters are installed, the state may see a flow of additional revenue of Rs 200 crore.

The meters will be equipped with GSM-based modem through an optical port. The modem will store the data which could be accessed anytime from the central control room. In case of tampering, three SMSs will be automatically generated and sent to the concerned circle, vigilance office and the head office. Thus the erring consumer will be caught.

"The meter will help us monitor energy consumption. Any mischief will immediately be known and actions will follow," said Anil Palamwar, director (operations), Mahadiscom.

The company plans to connect 20,000 meters with the modems in the first phase by the year end. The project, which is yet to get the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (Merc) nod, is expected to start by February.

"We aim to connect 2,000 meters to the modem per month. Initially, we will target the high tension industrial and commercial units throughout the state. Later, this number may go up to one lakh," said Palamwar.

The first phase will require an investment of Rs 40 crore. The central control room for the system has not yet been finalised.

"Setting up such a centre with controlling system requires an approximate area of 4,000 square feet. Most probably the centre will come up in Pune. We have identified an area in Pune but it is not finalised yet," said Palamwar.

The system requires the latest softwares, hardwares, high quality servers and 20,000 modems (one modem for each meter). New Delhi Power Ltd (NDPL) has already implemented the project by connecting 16,000 meters with the modems in the HT section and is gaining a revenue of Rs 10 crore.

Mahadiscom has started trial run on 100 meters in Wada in Thane district. Till now 45 meters have been installed. "Work started last month. All the meters will be in place by January end as it takes almost one day to connect 1-2 meters," said Palamwar.

Once the meters are in place, these will be observed for three months till April. "Monitoring of the meters could be done every hour. Just a press of a button at the controlling centre will be enough to get the data stored in the modem," he added.