Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji

Panaji, Jan 19: The Goa government is considering a proposal to replace all manual water meters across the state with smart water meters under a public-private partnership (PPP) model, Drinking Water Minister Subhash Phal Dessai has said.

Phal Dessai said the state is currently losing nearly Rs 50 crore annually due to water theft and faulty meters, a loss the government is keen to plug. He clarified that the move will not impose any additional financial burden on consumers, as the cost of installing smart meters will be recovered by the appointed agency through water bills over a period of around 10 years.

“With smart meters, we will not need meter readers, which will help save additional costs. Human errors during meter reading will also be eliminated. At present, there are frequent disputes over bills, leading to non-payment. This issue will be resolved with smart meters,” the minister said.

To support the initial investment required for the project, the state government is willing to pay around Rs 50 crore to the selected agency, he added.

Goa’s non-revenue water — water that is treated and supplied but does not generate revenue — currently stands at about 40 per cent. According to Phal Dessai, this high level is due to pipeline leakages and faulty meters.

“We spend Rs 25 per unit to treat raw water for drinking purposes, but supply it to consumers at a subsidised rate of Rs 4.10 per unit. When water is lost as non-revenue water, the loss is not Rs 4 per unit but Rs 25 per unit,” he explained.

The minister said replacing existing meters with smart meters would help significantly reduce non-revenue water and is a key step towards achieving 24x7 water supply in the state.

He added that smart meters would also enable the creation of a real-time water supply monitoring system, allowing consumers to link the meters to their mobile phones and track their water consumption.