Pakistan signs IFC advisory deal for rollout of 10 million smart meters

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has engaged the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, as transaction adviser for bringing in private investors to support the installation of 10 million smart meters across all electricity distribution companies (Discos).

The Power Division said on Monday that it had signed a Transaction Advisory Services Agreement (Tasa) with the IFC. Under the arrangement, the IFC will serve as transaction adviser and carry out a detailed techno-commercial assessment for either a service-provider model or a public-private partnership framework for the large-scale deployment of smart metering infrastructure for 10 million single-phase connections.

According to the Power Division, the initiative is aimed at drawing both local and international investors to install, maintain and operate the infrastructure, as Pakistan pushes ahead with digital reforms in the power sector.

The ministry had announced a broad rollout of smart meters across Discos in October 2025. It said the digitisation drive had been accelerated as part of efforts to overhaul the national power distribution network by replacing older systems with modern infrastructure to improve transparency, operational performance and long-term financial sustainability.

Smart metering plan

The Power Division said Advanced Smart Metering Infrastructure (AMI) is central to this transition. It said smart meters offer real-time monitoring of electricity use, help curb theft through anomaly detection, improve billing accuracy and recovery, and reduce manual mistakes by limiting human intervention.

The division also said that, through an international competitive bidding process, the government had brought down the price of both single-phase and three-phase smart meters by 40 per cent. It said this had resulted in significant savings for the national exchequer and, ultimately, for consumers.

All Discos have been instructed to provide smart meters for every new electricity connection, and no conventional meters are to be issued to new applicants. In addition, all existing three-phase consumer meters are to be converted into smart meters within a set deadline so that commercial and industrial consumers are brought into the digital system within the specified timeframe.

Regulatory support

To tackle the longstanding problem of faulty and defective meters, the ministry said it had worked closely with the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra). According to the Power Division, Nepra in its recent determinations on distribution investment plans has allowed Discos to replace defective meters with smart meters, a step the ministry said would speed up the countrywide shift to a fully digital grid.

The power division said it would continue its unwavering commitment to an efficient, transparent, and consumer-centric power sector that delivers reliable electricity services to the people of Pakistan.

The government says the latest agreement with the IFC is part of that broader reform effort, with the advisory process expected to help structure private sector participation in the smart metering programme across all Discos.