Press Release
Jaipur, India, May 5, 2026 — Polaris Smart Metering has passed one million smart meter installations in India, which the company claims is not only a milestone in terms of numbers, but to the actual progress being delivered under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) under the central government to ensure that what has been a longstanding blemish on the Indian electricity chain the last mile has actually been achieved.
Over the years, the distribution of power in India has been characterized by two endemic issues: high aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses, and billing systems that failed to match the size of the consumer base. Smart metering directly addresses both. And while the policy framework for it has been in place for a few years now, getting meters installed at scale — across diverse states, aging infrastructure, and varied field conditions — has been the real test.
Polaris has been working through that test, one installation at a time. The one million mark spans multiple state DISCOMs, covering residential colonies, commercial complexes, and industrial setups. The meters are connected to an Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) network, which links to the head-end system of the utility, providing engineers and billing personnel with visibility into the meters that they previously lacked.
On the consumer end, the change in manual meter reading has brought a physical difference in the billing accuracy. Consumers who used to be given estimated bills are now provided with readings that are built on actual usage information, and this has assisted in minimizing disputes and creating more confidence in monthly electricity bills.
The coordination required by the RDSS rollout is what makes it that much more difficult than it sounds. Polaris does not just supply meters — Polaris- the Smart Meter Manufacturer India handles installation logistics, integration with AMI head-end platforms. It ensures that data is flowing reliably to utility servers before a project is considered complete. A meter that does not communicate consistently is of no real use to a DISCOM trying to map consumption patterns or detect unauthorized connections.
The company has built state-specific execution capacity as it has grown, rather than trying to run everything from a central team. This has meant hiring and training local field staff, setting up support infrastructure closer to project sites, and working within the timelines and processes of each utility partner.
India’s RDSS metering program has hundreds of millions of connections to cover before it reaches full scale. Several states are still in early stages of their rollout. Polaris, with its current project pipeline across multiple DISCOM jurisdictions, is positioned to continue scaling through this period.
