State government has withdrawn from the implementation of the smart meter scheme which was introduced as part of the electricity board reforms. The decision to withdraw came after the inability to overcome the opposition of the main ruling party unions. Unions will have the final say when it comes to implementing a decisive decision in the Electricity Board and KSRTC. No matter how much financial loss the government has to face, they can only give in eventually. It is understood that many people, including the departmental minister, were keen to implement the smart meter project at any cost. However, the interest of the union is the first priority there, not the interest of the minister. Only Kerala stands against the smart meter project, which would have been a great benefit to the board and the government financially. The CPM Politburo had already taken a stand against the project. Now the government has also announced the final decision.

In the background of rising energy needs, major changes are taking place in the power sector all over the country. In this endeavor, the central government is providing massive assistance to the State Electricity Boards. By rejecting the smart meter reform, the state will lose a central scheme worth Rs 10,475 crore. The grant of two thousand crores will also be lost. Apart from this, the borrowing limit of the state will have to endure a shortfall of four thousand crores. For any new renovation project in the electricity board, the board has to find money on its own from now on. Everyone knows that the government, which is facing a financial crisis so severe that it does not even have the funds to pay the promised monthly payment of fifty crore rupees to the Transport Corporation, cannot help the board in any way. It means that the board will have to penalize consumers heavily for any renovation project they undertake. The board is already collecting a good amount of money in the form of surcharges and cesses. New revenue streams will have to be sought to find more money for new reform projects. For that, the board will have to rely on the customers themselves. 13,126 crores which was supposed to be received from the Center for the renovation of the second phase of the smart meter project should be abandoned in the background of the withdrawal from the project. The smart meter scheme was devised to ensure uninterrupted power supply and to stabilize the financial position of the board. Part of the plan was to upgrade existing distribution lines and transformers across the state to reduce energy losses.

A dispute over who should install the smart meters led to the abandonment of the project itself. They argue that if the project is approved, it will be the first step towards privatization of the board. The politics of insisting that only the smart meter contract should not be done while the private sector is implementing the government's AI camera firm and the K-FON contract even bypassing the terms of the contract is incomprehensible. It may take many years to realize that the decision was wrong, but it is worrying to think what will happen to the board by then.