A total sum of over Rs.30,000 crore has so far been released as Central grant under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), it was informed in Parliament recently.
In a written reply given in the Rajya Sabha on August 4, 2025, Shripad Naik, Minister of State for Power said that till date, the total funds released under RDSS stands at Rs.30,700 crore.
This includes Rs.26,024 crore purely under RDSS and Rs.4,125 crore under old Centrally-sponsored power sector schemes like DDUGJY, IPDS, SAUBHAGYA and PMDP, now subsumed under RDSS.
The remaining Rs.551 crore has been released towards nodal agency fee, capacity building programmes, National Feeder Monitoring System, quality monitoring works, etc. (This has been collectively referred to as “capacity building” hereinafter in this story)
For the ongoing fiscal year FY26 a total grant of Rs.16,021 crore has been budgeted for RDSS and subsumed programmes, inclusive of capacity building. Of this, Rs.4,110 crore was released till August 4, 2025, it was informed.
In the preceding two fiscal years, the grant released has matched the budgeted allocation. In FY25, the entire budgeted Rs.12,974 crore was released, and in FY24, the released amount, at Rs.10,064 crore came very close to the budgeted Rs.10,400 crore.
Overall, it may be interpreted that states have together spend Rs.30,700 crore (or around 25 per cent) out of the total Rs.1,20,750 crore assigned to them as collective Central grant under RDSS, subsumed schemes and capacity building.
Smart metering under RDSS
Launched in July 2021, RDSS envisages total outlay of Rs.3,03,758 crore inclusive of Central grant (Gross Budgetary Support) of Rs.97,631 crore. Among other aspects, the scheme envisages the rollout of 25 crore smart meters with an outlay of around Rs.1 lakh crore. Another Rs.1.51 lakh crore has been assigned towards loss-reduction infrastructure works like upgrade of substations, distribution transformers and conductors, as well as feeder segregation works.
As of around July 28, 2025, a total of 20.33 crore smart meters were sanctioned under RDSS out of which 2.44 crore were installed. The installation of all sanctioned meters is expected to be completed by the end of the scheme period, which is March 2028 (end of FY28), the minister said in an earlier reply dated July 28, 2025.
State-wise distribution
Speaking of Central grant sanctioned under RDSS (including subsumed schemes and capacity building), the five leading states, as of the date of reply, included Uttar Pradesh (Rs.16,570 crore), Maharashtra (Rs.13,182 crore), Rajasthan (Rs.12,902 crore), Tamil Nadu (Rs.9,139 crore) and Madhya Pradesh (Rs.7,308 crore).
In terms of grant released, which may also be construed as expenditure incurred, Uttar Pradesh was the leading state with Rs.5,443 crore, followed by Bihar (Rs.2,735 crore), Maharashtra (Rs.2,581 crore), Madhya Pradesh (Rs.2,200 crore) and Rajasthan (Rs.1,808 crore), referring to just the top five states in this regard.
(Key to abbreviations: DDUGJY = Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana; IPDS = Integrated Power Development Scheme; SAUBHAGYA = Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana; PMDP = Prime Minister’s Development Package)
Featured photograph (source: IntelliSmart Infrastructure) relates to IntelliSmart’s smart metering projects under RDSS.