India must more than double its smart meter installation pace to nearly 2.5 lakh units per day if it is to meet the government's target of deploying 25 crore smart meters by March 2028, according to a report released on Friday, 6 November 2026 by CareEdge Ratings. As of April 2026, roughly 6.5 crore smart meters had been installed nationwide — representing approximately one quarter of the total target.

The Pace Problem

The required daily installation rate of 2.5 lakh meters is more than 2.5 times the roughly 99,000 meters installed per day during FY26. The CareEdge Ratings report does acknowledge significant momentum: annual additions rose from 48 lakh meters in FY24 to 1.47 crore in FY25, and further to 3.63 crore in FY26. Yet even at this accelerating trajectory, closing the gap by March 2028 will require a step-change in execution that few states have yet demonstrated.

State-Level Gaps and Leaders

Maharashtra leads all states with around 1.1 crore installations, accounting for 17 per cent of the national cumulative total. Together, Maharashtra, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh contribute nearly 47 per cent of all smart meter installations to date. However, the deployment picture is uneven. Uttar Pradesh has installed approximately 32 per cent of its sanctioned volumes, while Bihar has achieved roughly 52 per cent — a contrast the report uses to highlight how state-level execution capability, not just allocation, drives actual outcomes.

Revenue and Efficiency Gains at Stake

The financial case for the rollout is substantial. CareEdge Ratings estimates that full-scale smart meter deployment could generate cumulative additional revenue of approximately ₹1.84 lakh crore over the five years ending FY31, driven by improved billing and collection efficiency and lower Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses. Sector indicators have already trended in the right direction: AT&C losses fell from 20.73 per cent in FY20 to 15.04 per cent in FY25, billing efficiency has reached nearly 88 per cent, and collection efficiency stands at around 97 per cent. The gap between Average Cost of Supply and Average Revenue Realised has narrowed from ₹0.72 per kWh in FY19 to ₹0.07 per kWh in FY25. Full smart metering could push billing efficiency to 97–98 per cent, lift collection efficiency beyond 99 per cent under prepaid models, and reduce AT&C losses to around 12 per cent.

Prepaid Adoption: The Critical Bottleneck

Despite the volume of installations, prepaid adoption remains a critical constraint. As of April 2026, only about 9 per cent of installed smart meters were operating in prepaid mode — a figure that limits the full financial and efficiency benefits the technology promises. Nearly 89 per cent of electricity bills are generated using actual meter readings, but only around 49 per cent use automated readings, indicating significant room for deeper integration with billing and payment infrastructure.

What Industry Voices Are Saying

Ravleen Sethi, Director at CareEdge Ratings, said: 'The economics of smart metering will ultimately depend on how effectively utilities translate installation into operational change. Accurate readings must feed into billing and payment systems, while consumers need the confidence and tools to manage their consumption.' The comment underscores a point mainstream coverage often misses — the number of meters installed is a proxy metric; what matters is how many are actively transforming utility operations. With the March 2028 deadline less than 17 months away, the pressure on states, discoms, and implementation agencies to synchronise hardware deployment with operational transformation has never been greater.