Varanasi, Agra discoms invite fresh bids in clusters for procurement of smart prepaid meters

In the meantime, the Meerut discom has finalised the smart meter tender to a Central government agency that was found to be the lowest bidder

LUCKNOW The Varanasi and Agra discoms have invited fresh bids for the procurement of smart prepaid meters in three and two clusters, respectively, to facilitate participation of more suppliers in the bidding process so that a competitive price is found, said officials.

The Lucknow discom, which was the first to cancel the smart meter tender in February, is yet to adopt the cluster route. It too has invited fresh bids but for the entire discoms and by dividing districts under it in clusters. (Pic for representation)

The Lucknow discom, which was the first to cancel the smart meter tender in February, is yet to adopt the cluster route. It too has invited fresh bids but for the entire discoms and by dividing districts under it in clusters.

In the meantime, the Meerut discom has finalised the smart meter tender to a Central government agency that was found to be the L1 (lowest one) bidder.

“IntelliSmar, a government of India enterprise, has bagged the prepaid smart metering project tender in the Meerut discom after the price quoted by it in the bids was found to be the lowest and comparable with other states,” UPPCL chairman M Devraj said.

“Private companies too had participated in the tender process,” he added.

He said after cancelling tenders due to higher price, Varanasi and Agra discoms had invited fresh bids in clusters. The lesser worth of tenders invited in clusters is expected to encourage participation of more companies in the bidding process.

“Awarding smart meter tenders early is necessary for discoms to improve revenue collection and for consumers to get better services,” he added.