Adani Electric Mumbai Limited (AEML) has issued a tender to implement a smart metering solution in its power distribution area of 700,000 consumers in the east division in Mumbai.

Interested bidders are expected to make an earnest money deposit (EMD) of ₹25 million (~$0.33 million). The last date for bid submission is September 14, 2020. The tender stated that bids would only be accepted in electronic format.

Adani is planning to implement an automatic metering infrastructure (AMI) solution for 700,000 meters to smart group metering by setting up RF (radio frequency) communication canopy network across its distribution area spanning over 99 square kilometers.

The scope of work includes the implementation of smart group metering. The bidders need to supply, install, test, commission and provide training of RF communication canopy network elements, RF nodes, group, and standalone smart meters, group smart meter cabin and field maintenance services, head-end system, meter data management system, customer portal and its integrations with the existing AEML systems along with IT infrastructure on the cloud. Bidders have to maintain the entire solution for ten years, and it must be scalable up to 3 million.

To be eligible to take part in the competitive bidding process, the annual turnover of prospective bidders should be at least ₹4 billion (~$53.38 million) for domestic bidders and $55 million (~₹4.12 billion) for an international bidder.

Prospective bidders should be in the business of manufacturing and supplying of electricity meters and other electrical instruments and metering accessories (at least three years for the domestic bidder and five years of the international bidder as on tender date).

Bidders should also have successfully deployed a minimum of 500,000 units for AMI in power distribution utilities in India or overseas during the last five years.

Smart meters are slowly coming into vogue with numerous states initiating the process of replacing the conventional meters to become more energy efficient.

For instance, earlier in 2019, Uttar Pradesh had issued a tender to set up bi-directional smart meters in the state. The bi-directional smart meters will be set up for each state-owned power distribution company in the state of Uttar Pradesh.

Mercom recently reported on how the infrastructure overhaul required for smart metering systems will also serve to bring the country one step closer to a digital ecosystem.