POWER DISTRIBUTION IN INDIA

METERING IN INDIA

POWER DISTRIBUTION IN INDIA

• With privatisation efforts gathering pace, the power distribution segment could see some structural changes going forward.
• The government has recently announced plans to privatise discoms in the union territories (UTs) as a part of the economic stimulus reform measures. Drawing examples from Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Ahmedabad, where private players have been operating for many years, the announcement has been lauded by the industry. Besides bringing in fresh capital and efficiency gains, the move is expected to give confidence to larger states to undertake privatisation.
• Meanwhile, another reform-linked distribution scheme is in the works post UDAY, wherein funding would be linked to reforms and would incentivise states to involve the private sector in improving the efficiency of state discoms. These developments are also aligned with fundamental reforms such as the Electricity Act (Amendment) Bill and the revision to the Tariff Policy that are planned to be implemented to restore the creditworthiness of the power sector.
• The measures are expected to help in the much-needed course correction for the distribution segment, which continues to lag behind. The latest audited results show that the aggregate losses of discoms have more than doubled in 2018-19 to Rs 449 billion. The gap between the ACS and the ARR has widened from 22 paise in 2017-18 to 49 paise per unit in 2018-19. Also, AT&C losses at the pan-Indian level stood at 23.06 per cent in 2018-19 compared to 22.6 per cent a year ago.
• The financial stress of the discoms has been further aggravated in the past few months with the Covid pandemic. Load reduction from industrial consumers, under-recoveries in cash collections and delayed payments have had a significant impact on discom cash flows. Discoms have further delayed payments to gencos and transcos that are already struggling due to large outstanding payments. The recent Rs 900 billion liquidity package to write off these dues has, however, brought some relief.
• Net, net, as more states explore the possibilities of privatisation of distribution areas, there could be broader changes in the distribution segment’s landscape and market structure in the coming years. While the private sector’s involvement could help bring in multiple benefits, the risks and rewards would need to be adequately balanced.
• The mission of this one-day virtual conference is to analyse the key trends and developments in the power distribution segment with a spotlight on privatisation initiatives, experiences, challenges and outlook. The conference will also focus on discom initiatives, best practices and future plans. The conference will also provide a platform to showcase new and promising technology trends and solutions.

METERING IN INDIA

• The Covid-19 pandemic has created the need for revamping the metering infrastructure. Smart meters, offering remote monitoring and reading facilities, have come as a major relief for discoms during the lockdown following the pandemic.
• Smart meters have made it possible for discoms to achieve around 95 per cent billing efficiency amidst the lockdown, besides increasing their monthly revenue per consumer by almost 15-20 per cent.
• Smart meters are undoubtedly a vital component of advanced metering infrastructure, helping discoms reduce aggregate technical and commercial losses, enhance billing efficiency and ensure accurate billing, thereby improving their cash flows and creating a positive domino impact on the financial health of the power sector. Smart meters also enhance consumer satisfaction and allow the implementation of demand-side management and time-of-day metering, among other things.
• Under the Smart Meter National Programme, the flagship programme for smart metering being implemented by EESL, over 1.2 million smart meters have been installed so far. The programme envisages the installation of 250 million smart meters on the model of bulk procurement, demand aggregation and monetisation of savings.
• Apart from this, the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) aims to install smart meters for all consumers with a monthly consumption of over 200 units, and around 6 per cent of the target has been achieved. Further, smart meters are also being installed under the National Smart Grid Mission’s pilot projects and the Integrated Power Development Scheme.
• Overall, the union government’s 2020-21 budget announcement to replace all conventional electricity meters with smart prepaid meters is expected to create a demand for close to 300 million smart meters.
• One of the key requirements for successful operation of smart metering infrastructure is robust and efficient meter communication. Power line communication, general packet radio service and radio frequency mesh communication are being deployed for remote monitoring of utility infrastructure and the bidirectional communication system.
• Smart meters generate a huge quantum of data, which requires a robust meter data management system for data acquisition and storage. Through data analytics algorithms, meaningful insights can be derived into electricity consumption patterns. It can also help detect meter tampering, manage outages and ensure theft protection, among other things.
• That said, the growing smart meter deployment poses interoperability issues as well as challenges in integrating systems with legacy billing software. Utilities will need to address these issues as they scale deployment.
• The mission of this virtual conference is to focus on:
• Metering needs and requirements pre- and post-Covid
• Progress in smart metering under various government programmes (IPDS, UDAY, SMNP)
• Showcase promising technologies and solutions (prepaid metering, net metering, etc.)
• Highlight the key issues and challenges facing the segment, and the solutions thereof.

POWER DISTRIBUTION IN INDIA

KEY TRENDS AND POST-COVID-19 OUTLOOK

• What have been the key trends and developments in the power distribution segment?
• What has been the impact of Covid-19 on the segment?
• What are the issues and challenges? What is the post-Covid-19 outlook for the segment?

GOVERNMENT PERSPECTIVE

• What is the government’s perspective on the power distribution segment?
• What has been the progress under various government initiatives (IPDS, DDUGJY, NSGM, etc.)?
• What are the next steps planned for privatising discoms in the UTs?
• What are the key issues and concerns? What is the government’s outlook?

PUBLIC DISCOM PERSPECTIVE

• What is the perspective of public discoms on the power distribution segment?
• What has been the impact of Covid-19? What have been the recent initiatives to cushion the impact?
• What are the future plans? What are the issues and concerns?

PRIVATE DISCOM PERSPECTIVE: EXPERIENCE AND CHALLENGES

• What is the perspective of private discoms on the power distribution segment?
• What has been the business impact of Covid-19?
• What are their future plans and outlook for the segment?

OPPORTUNITIES FOR PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION

• What are the opportunities and challenges under the proposed discom privatisation for UTs?
• What lessons can it offer to states to implement the privatisation model?
• What are the privatisation models that can be considered?
• What is the outlook for private sector participation in the segment going forward?

STATE OF DISCOM FINANCES PRE- AND POST-COVID

• What has been the impact of Covid-19 on the financial performance of discoms?
• What has been the performance of discoms vis-à-vis the targets under UDAY? Which have been some of the better performing states?
• What are the key issues and concerns? What is the way forward?

COSTS, TARIFFS AND POWER PROCUREMENT OUTLOOK

• What have been the trends in the power purchase costs of discoms?
• What has been the trend in their tariff revisions?
• What is the outlook for short, medium and long-term power procurement by discoms over the next one to two years?

LOSS REDUCTION AND REVENUE MANAGEMENT

• What are the loss reduction and revenue management-related challenges for utilities?
• What are the discom best practices?
• What are the most promising technologies and solutions in this regard?

METERING IN INDIA

POWER DISTRIBUTION IN INDIA

• Mritunjay Kumar Narayan, Joint Secretary, Distribution, Ministry of Power
• Rohit Bajaj, Head, Business Development, IEX
• Sanjay Banga, President, T&D, TATA Power
• Yogesh Choudhary IAS,  Managing Director ,Dakshin Gujarat Vij Company Limited (DGVCL)
• Kiran Gopal, Managing Director, Madhya Pradesh Poorv Kshetra Vidyut Vitran Company
• Devtosh Chaturvedi, CEO and Head-Distribution Landscape, Feedback Energy Distribution Company
• K. Gupta , Director (Commercial) ,  Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam
• S L Karwadiya, CE , Madhya Pradesh Paschim Kshetra Vidyut Vitran Company
• Raghav Kanoria, Managing Director, India Power Corporation
• Sabyasachi Majumdar, Senior Vice President, ICRA

METERING IN INDIA

• Vishal Kapoor, Director – Distribution, Ministry of Power
• Rajesh Bansal, Head – Network Operations, BSES Rajdhani Power
• Udayan Ganguly , General Manager , CESC Limited
• Manish Jain, Chief of Commercial, Tata Power Ajmer Distribution Limited
• Manoj Jhawar , Director (Commercial) , Madhya Pradesh Paschim Kshetra Vidyut Vitran Company Limited
• Amit Kumar, Business Unit Head, L&T
• Anil Rawal, Chief Executive Officer , Intellismart Infrastructure Private Limited
• Subhadip Raychaudhuri, HOD (SCG, AMI, MR) and Project Manager, Smart Metering, Tata Power Delhi Distribution
• Sunil Singhvi, Chief Executive Officer, Energy SBU, Secure Meters
• Ashish Tandon, Senior Vice President, Genus Power Infrastructure

For speaking opportunities, please contact:
Neha Mathur
Email: neha.mathur@indiainfrastructure.com
Mob: + 91 8826000927

POWER DISTRIBUTION IN INDIA

The conference is targeted at officials and managers from:

• State discoms
• Private discoms
• Distribution franchises
• Equipment manufacturers
• Technology providers
• Regulatory institutions
• IT-based product and service providers
• Marketers of enterprise software solutions
• Communication/Connectivity solution providers
• Funding agencies
• Government agencies (central/state)
• Contractors
• Research organisations
• Consultancy organisations

METERING IN INDIA

Delegate benefits (Virtual Conference)

• Direct interaction with senior speakers (Q&A facility)
• Easy connectivity to geographically dispersed delegates (click of a mouse)
• Concise report offered as a backgrounder
• Cost effective (lower ticket price as compared to a physical conference)
• Offers flexibility and convenience
• Access to conference recording
• Recap of conference sessions
• Contributes to sustainability and lower carbon footprint

For registration process/payment  to attend any one conference, please contact:

Monish Grover
Email: monish.grover@indiainfrastructure.com
Tel: +91-9999401099

• There is a 25 per cent discount before August 27, 2020
• GST @18 per cent is applicable on the registration fee.
• Registration will be confirmed on receipt of the payment.