The Ministry of Energy signed a Transaction Advisory Services Agreement with the International Finance Corporation to accelerate rollout of advanced smart metering infrastructure in Pakistan.
The IFC will serve as transaction advisor, conducting a comprehensive techno-commercial assessment for service-provider or public-private partnership frameworks covering 10 million single-phase electricity connections.
The initiative aims to attract local and international investors to install, maintain, and operate the infrastructure, supporting digitization reforms in the national electricity distribution network.
The reform programme seeks to replace outdated legacy systems with modern infrastructure, enhancing transparency, operational efficiency, and long-term financial viability.
ASM Infrastructure forms the cornerstone of this transformation, providing real-time consumption visibility, reducing theft, improving billing accuracy, and eliminating manual errors through reduced human intervention.
Through international competitive bidding, the ministry reduced prices of single-phase and three-phase smart meters by 40 percent, delivering significant savings to the national exchequer.
All distribution companies have been directed to install smart meters for every new electricity connection, with traditional meters no longer issued to new applicants nationwide.
Existing three-phase consumer meters must be converted to smart meters by a defined deadline, ensuring commercial and industrial consumers are fully integrated into the digital system.
