Electronic electricity meters introduced

Wasantha Ramanayake

Sri Lanka should opt for electronic domestic electricity meters, Power and Energy Minister W.D.J. Senevirathne said. He was speaking at a ceremony to hand over the first consignment of locally manufactured domestic electricity meters to the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) by Anteleco Electricity Metering Company Pvt Ltd.in Colombo, recently.

The Minister said Sri Lanka was behind Bangladesh in using electronic meters which are more accurate and reliable. He pointed out that countries in the region such as India and China are already using electronic meters.

The Minister said the manufacturing of meters locally is an achievement since Sri Lanka had been using imported electricity meters to date. He stressed the importance of the locally manufactured electricity meters. It saves foreign exchange while solving the dearth of electricity meters, he said.

Anteleco Metering Company, a subsidiary of the Lanka Electricity Company Limited (LECO) and a Chinese joint venture would supply the total annual demand of electricity meters which is around 250,000.

The Minister said the company could cater to the increasing demand for meters due to the Government's development programme in the East where the CEB expediting the supply of electricity to a large number of subscribers.

"We have recognised electricity as a basic need of the people." He added that the newly liberated areas such as Madhu and Mannar will also be provided electricity soon.

The Minister said they would explore the possibility of using the manufacturing facility used in Veedagama and Bandaragama to manufacture water meters as well.

The LECO invested Rs. 100 million while the Chinese company provided technology and 10 per cent of the total investment of Rs. 135 million.