BENGALURU: The Congress has defended the State government on the issue of smart meters under the Central government’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) and called the recent allegations by BJP leader and ex-minister Dr CN Ashwathnarayan “factually incorrect” and “politically motivated”.
The party’s media cell chairman Ramesh Babu said, “The government is implementing smart meters in a transparent manner. It is part of a nationwide effort to improve energy efficiency, reduce transmission and distribution losses. Under RDSS, the Central government provides a subsidy of Rs 900 per meter to all states.’’
He said that Ashwathnarayan had accused the government by claiming that other states procure them at Rs 900 per unit. Dismissing the claims as misleading, he clarified that Rs 900 refers to the central subsidy, and not the cost of the meter.
Ramesh Babu claimed that despite knowing the facts, Ashwathnarayan had deliberately misled the public. He pointed out the irony in the BJP’s stance, that it was the BJP-led Karnataka government in 2020-21 that had rejected the same RDSS scheme. According to the KERC directive, smart meters are mandatory only for new connections, excluding irrigation pump sets. For around 3 crore consumers, the adoption of smart meters are optional.