Mumbai, India: Schneider Electric, the leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation aims to support the Government of India’s Smart Meter National program (SMNP) through its manufacturing facility in Mysuru, Karnataka. With the merger of Schneider Electric and erstwhile L&T EAIC, the facility benefits from the former’s global expertise and technology prowess in the smart metering domain. With a manufacturing capacity of 17 Mn meters per annum, the plant has supplied more than 70 Mn electricity meters and 3 lakh smart meters in India till date.
Mr. Luc Remont, Executive Vice President, International Operations-Schneider Electric said, “With the advent of modernization, the world is poised to become more electric and digital. At Schneider Electric, we believe that reliable power is critical in building the AatmaNirbhar Bharat of the future. Globally we play an important role in smart grid technology and we are poised to provide the same in India with local engineering and delivery support. We aim to build our indigenous capabilities in the segment and provide solutions as per the requirement of Indian utilities.”
He added, “The Schneider Electric Meters have significant local value addition and we are committed to continuing working towards further increasing the localization of components hence increasing the percentage local value add.”
The government envisions replacing 25 crore conventional meters with smart meters in India by 2025. With an initial target of installing 10 crore meters by December 2023, the government has already installed 19 lakh smart meters across various states under SMNP. Schneider Electric’s plant in Mysuru has an end-to-end ecosystem in place, which can be scaled up to meet the expected surge in demand for smart prepaid meters. The company already has an order of 1.4 Mn smart meters. It is working closely with its customers and guiding them through the deployment process of new technologies and solutions to ensure a smooth transition.
Talking about the benefits of smart meters in India, Mr. Anil Chaudhry, Managing Director, and Chief Executive Officer, Schneider Electric India Pvt. Ltd, Great India Zone said, “India is going to become more electric and digital – with more renewables in our energy mix. To make this happen, we need to evolve our energy grids into smarter grids by making them resilient, stable, and at the same time providing the right kind of flexibility. At Schneider Electric, we believe that smart meters will play a significant role in the overall evolution of the power sector. Through our state-of-the-art facility in Mysuru, we aim to benefit not only the distribution companies but also the consumers to ensure the effective roll-out of smart meters across the country.”
“Our projects in Indore, Mumbai, Bihar, and Himachal Pradesh are benchmark projects which have proven both the technology and the financial viability of Smart meter deployment. We are well equipped to customize our solutions to meet the requirement of Indian utilities,” he added.
Spread across 54,000 sq meters, the state-of-the-art energy meter facility by Schneider Electric in Mysuru performs various functions – from R&D to testing, manufacturing, quality, and procurement. Having a total employee strength of 298 on rolls and 1100 on contract, the facility offers an integrated digital manufacturing system that can ensure process compliance, quality checks, traceability, supply, and installation. It provides a sophisticated metering infrastructure comprising HES (Headend systems), MDM (Meter Data Management), etc with a strong layer of cyber security.
