The contract  was signed at a ceremony at Biduyt Bhaban in the city on Wednesday.

Addressing the function,  Prime Minister’s Energy Advisor Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury has asked the officials working in the power sector to improve their utility services to people.

“If you fail to ensure the proper services to people, all the credits will finally fall flat,” he told officials .

Under the deal, the JVC will supply and install the pre-paid meters within June 2023 at cost of Tk 414.82 crore.

Of the meters, some 467,200 are single phase smart pre-paid meters while the remaining 32,800 are three phase smart pre-paid meters.

The project also include installation of 3000 data concentrator units, one central data centre (CDC), one mater information centre, one disaster recovery centre (DRC) and 17 vending utility stations.

Official documents also reveal that of the total cost of the project, the government will fund Tk 400.69 crore while the Nesco will spend Tk 14.12 crore from its own funds.

The main objective of the project is to collect revenue in advance, provide improved service to the Nesco consumers, reducing the non-technical loss to zero level, easing the demand side load management and checking the misuse of electricity, mentioned the development project proforma (DPP) of the project.

TawfiqElahiChowdhury said  the risk in power system is getting higher with introduction of digital system. “So, we have to ensure constant monitoring of the system so that there should not be any cyber attack,” he said.   
 
The function was also addressed by Power Secretary Sultan Ahmed, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) chairman Sayed Ahmed and Nesco managing director Zakiul Islam.