PFC Consulting has invited bids for appointing Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) service providers for the installation of 125,000 smart meters across the Chennai, Kanchipuram, Villupuram, and Tiruvannamalai regions in Tamil Nadu under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme.

The project includes the deployment of 90,000 single-phase low-tension (LT) smart meters and 35,000 three-phase whole-current LT smart meters for government and local-body services across the state.

Bids must be submitted by March 16, 2026. Bids will be opened on the same day.

The estimated cost of the project is ₹1.12 billion (~$12.19 million).

Bidders must furnish an earnest money deposit of ₹12.5 million (~$136,096). The successful bidder must submit a performance security of 3% of the contract value.

The scope of work includes the supply of smart prepaid meters, deployment of communication infrastructure, development of IT systems including head-end system and meter data management platforms, system integration, installation, testing and commissioning of meters, establishment of a network operation and monitoring center in Chennai, integration with the utility’s existing billing systems, training of personnel, and long-term operation and maintenance of the infrastructure.

The project must be installed and commissioned within 10 months. The selected bidder must provide field management services for 93 months to operate and maintain the AMI system.

Under the procurement structure, only agencies empaneled by PFC Consulting are eligible to participate in the bidding process.

The AMI system must also meet data management requirements, including storing meter data for 10 years and archiving it every 180 days.

The selected bidder must submit the project implementation plan within 15 days of award. Within three months, the network operation and monitoring center must be operational, and at least 5% of the meters must be installed and functional. The installation of 50% of the smart meters must be completed within six months.

In December 2024, PFC Consulting conducted an empanelment process to identify qualified AMI service providers for smart metering projects across the country.