Nagpur, Apr 23 (PTI) The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) has directed suppliers to provide a whopping 15 lakh power meters by September this year to overcome the shortage, an official release has said.

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One lakh new power meters will be available by April 30, and two lakh in May. Thereafter, 3.27 lakh meters will be available every month from June to September, it said.

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About 8-9 lakh new connections are commissioned by the MSEDCL every year. At the same time, the MSEDCL also needs two lakh meters per month for replacing faulty meters and other reasons. At present 1.31 lakh meters are available in the field offices of MSEDCL till April 22, the release stated.

Besides, the tender process to purchase 10 lakh smart metres is under consideration while the process of procuring 1.50 lakh three-phase meters is in the final stage. The supply of these three-phase meters will be available by the end of May.

In view of increasing the consumer demand, the process of procuring another 20 lakh single-phase meters has also been started, the release stated.

As per the directions of the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC), work orders have been issued for the installation of prepaid meters for agricultural pumps which are connected under the high-pressure power distribution system to audit the energy of agricultural lines.

The process of installing 1.5 lakh prepaid meters for these farmers will be completed by December, the release said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)