Noida (Uttar Pradesh) [India], August 11 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh will expand the installation of smart meters after creating awareness among consumers about the technology, state Power Minister AK Sharma said on Tuesday, calling smart meters a transparent and scientific technological innovation.

Smart meters are digital electricity meters that record power consumption and enable electricity usage data to be monitored more accurately.

'Smart meter is a good technological innovation, like your smartphone. It's very transparent, it's a very scientific instrument but we need time to explain to the consumers and that is why we have stopped putting it right now. We want to create education first and then go to the people for putting more,' Sharma told ANI on the sidelines of the India Bioenergy and Tech Expo and the 3rd International Conference and Exhibition on Bioenergy and Technologies.

Explaining the decision to pause further installations, Sharma said consumers need to be informed about the functioning and benefits of smart meters before the wider rollout resumes.

The minister said the initiative is part of efforts to modernise Uttar Pradesh's power sector and introduce technology-driven reforms in electricity distribution.

Sharma highlighted the state's progress under renewable energy initiatives, including the PM Surya Ghar Yojana. He said Uttar Pradesh has moved up to the second position in the country in terms of total installations under the scheme, with Gujarat currently ahead.

'I think that within a month or so, we would become number one,' Sharma said.

Speaking about the state's bioenergy push, Sharma said Uttar Pradesh has become the country's largest producer of compressed biogas (CBG), but the state aims to capture a larger share of the national market.

'We are not contented with being number one, but we want to have the sizeable number of the national share of the CBG because the agri-waste, the raw material base in Uttar Pradesh is very big,' Sharma said.

He said the State's large agricultural waste base provides major opportunities for CBG production. Sharma said Uttar Pradesh generates around 60 million tonnes of agricultural waste annually and also referred to nearly two lakh tonnes per day of agricultural waste availability.

The minister further highlighted the potential of urban waste for bioenergy production, saying Uttar Pradesh's cities generate around 15,000 tonnes of waste per day that can be utilised for CBG generation.

'Both in terms of agri-waste' and urban waste, the state has significant potential for the bioenergy sector, Sharma said, adding that Uttar Pradesh has created policy conditions to support the growth of CBG plants and the broader bioenergy industry.

Inviting investors from India and abroad, Sharma said the state's abundant agricultural and urban waste resources, along with supportive policies, offer significant opportunities for investment in the bioenergy sector. (ANI)