Solar solutions provider Apraava Energy has secured ₹8.01 billion (~₹92 million) from impact investor British International Investment (BII) and Standard Chartered to expand its advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) footprint.

Apraava signed financing agreements of approximately ₹4 billion (~$46 million) with BII and a separate agreement with Standard Chartered for roughly the same amount.

AMI is a smart meter network designed to enhance grid efficiency, support grid stability, improve transparency, and enable a more sustainable power distribution by integrating renewable energy.

Apraava said the new financing will help it install more than two million smart meters in homes and businesses.

The company offers end-to-end AMI solutions. It operates across multiple Indian states and aims to install 7.8 million smart meters.

States where Apraava has implanted AMI projects include Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Gujarat, West Bengal, Rajasthan, and Madhya Pradesh. It has also executed AMI projects in the union territory of Puducherry.

The company’s portfolio includes approximately 3.4 GW of installed capacity, comprising about 1,200 MW of wind, 250 MW of solar, and 1,320 MW of coal-fired projects. It also has two power transmission assets of roughly 494 ckm and four greenfield transmission projects, including about 500 ckm of transmission lines and substations with over 10 GW capacity.

Apraava is constructing a 300 MW wind project and two 550 MW solar projects.

Under the Smart Meter National Program, as part of the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme, the government has set a target to install 250 million smart meters for electricity consumers by the end of the financial year 2026. However, with less than a year to go before the program ends, the achievement is dismal.

The government provides a grant of ₹900 (~$10.3), or 15% of the cost, whichever is lower, for every smart meter.

According to an analysis by the Ministry of Power, installing smart meters has positively impacted the utilities of Assam and Bihar. About 44% of consumers in Assam saved roughly 50 units per month through consumption tracking and accurate billing. It has also helped the distribution companies of the two states to reduce losses, the benefits of which would ultimately go to the consumers

In September this year, the Ministry of Power announced it would constitute a steering committee and a sub-working group of domain experts to standardize training modules and create standard operating procedures/guidelines for data utilization, standards-based regime adoption, and cybersecurity practices on smart meter data analytics for distribution companies.