CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Power Distribution Corporation Limited (TNPDCL) has floated e-tenders in seven packages for the installation of 1.77 crore smart meters across municipal corporation areas under the centre’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS).
The tenders seek to appoint Advanced Metering Infrastructure Service Providers (AMISP) under the Total Expenditure (TOTEX) model. The smart meters will cover all low-tension (LT) consumers, except government buildings, agricultural and hut services.
According to a senior TNPDCL official, the Chennai region has been divided into two packages, while the remaining 23 municipal corporations have been grouped into five packages.
“Six corporations including Kancheepuram, Villupuram, Vellore and Tiruvannamalai will form one package, while five corporations including Erode and Karur will form another. Tiruchy and Thanjavur will constitute another package, while Madurai and Tirunelveli will form one more package,” the official told TNIE.
In the Chennai region, 56.85 lakh smart meters are proposed to be installed. Around 1.29 lakh smart meters have already been installed in T Nagar under the Smart City Mission.
During the TVK’s first budget session in the Assembly, Finance Minister N Marie Wilson announced that the entire Chennai Metropolitan area, comprising around 38.8 lakh LT services, would be brought under smart metering. However, the official said the project's scope has now expanded to cover all municipal corporations in the state.
TNPDCL has also floated a separate tender for the installation of 4.72 lakh smart meters at distribution transformers. These meters are expected to help the discom monitor energy flow, identify technical and commercial losses and detect possible instances of power theft.
The smart-metering programme has gone through several rounds of tendering. The first tender was floated in August 2023 to cover all three crore electricity consumers in the state. It was cancelled in December 2024 after receiving poor response from bidders and amid concerns over the high maintenance costs quoted by them.
Fresh tenders were issued in March 2025 and subsequently revised in August to cover 1.44 crore consumers consuming more than 400 units every two months in the first phase. However, the revised tender was also cancelled later.
Now, the TVK government floated tenders for smart meter installation again. As per union government norms, the entire installation process should be completed by March 2028.