India, July 15 -- India's power sector is in the middle of a major shift. With clean energy growing, EVs on the rise, and more solar rooftops popping up, the electricity grid is no longer just sending power out - it's interacting with homes, buildings, and vehicles in new ways. At the center of all this change are smart meters and what's called Advanced Metering Infrastructure, or AMI.

Under the government's RDSS plan, the goal is to install 250 million prepaid smart meters by 2025. The number is big, but the real impact is even bigger: smarter billing, better service, fewer losses, and a way to make renewable energy work better with the grid.

Still, the path isn't easy. While 25 million smart meters are already installed, and millions ...