State-owned West Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd (WZPDCL) has begun manufacturing pre-paid smart electric meters in Bangladesh.
In October last year, WZPDCL signed a joint venture contract with Chinese firm Hexing Electrical Co Ltd to set up a smart electric meter manufacturing plant in the country.
The new company—Bangladesh Smart Electrical Company Limited—is jointly owned by both the companies. While WZPDCL owns 51% stake, the remaining 49% of shares belong to Hexing Electrical.
It would cost Tk28.60 crore to set up the plant, which will start supplying pre-paid smart electric meters within the next two to three months, said WZPDCL authorities.
Although manufacturing has now begun at a rented space in Khulna, the company will soon move its activities to a permanent location.
According to WZPDCL sources, as part of the government's plan to increase the quality of customer service and achieving the vision of "Digital Bangladesh", the company has started providing pre-paid smart electric meters to 21 districts in the country’s south-west region.
Under phase one of the Pre-Payment Metering Project for Khulna, 73,000 pre-paid meters have already been installed. Now, the Pre-Payment Metering Project for WZPDCL has started, under which Shatkhira and Pirojpur are getting meters, along with four distribution zones in Khulna.
Speaking about the initiative, Project Director of Pre-Payment Metering Project for WZPDCL Md Tofazzal Hossain said: "We have decided to provide pre-paid meters to 500,000 customers as a part of this project. Till now, 30,000 meters have already been installed."
He added that the total number of customers who now have pre-paid smart electric meters is 100,000.
According to data given by the accounting department of WZPDCL, electric bills worth Tk4 crore have already been collected from the customers.
Although the company is providing the meters free of charge to customers, the market price of each meter is Tk4,500. WZPDCL's new manufacturing plant can assemble these meters for Tk3,780 each, rendering a profit of Tk764 per meter.
This would result in estimated annual profits of Tk38.22 crore for the company.
Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, WZPDCL Managing Director Md Shafique Uddin said: "Currently, the smart pre-paid meter (market) is dependent on imports, which is why in case of any technical difficulties, it is impossible to repair them locally.
"If the meters are assembled locally, then repairing will become easier and we can upgrade our technology as well," he explained, adding that if needed, the meters can also be replaced.
Shafique further said that assembling has started at Mridha Complex in Khulna's Zero Point, and WZPDCL will begin distributing meters to customers within the next two to three months.
WZPDCL Secretary and Finance Director of Bangladesh Smart Electrical Company Md Abdul Motaleb said despite initial negative reactions, customers have now accepted the smart pre-paid meters.
"Since demand for pre-paid meters is increasing, manufacturing them locally can bring profits to the company. Additionally, customer service quality will also improve," he added.
Motaleb also said surplus meters could be exported abroad.
