Private sector power distribution companies (discoms) improved efficiency levels faster than state-owned counterparts under the Centre’s Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme between FY16 and FY20, despite already being more efficient at the beginning of the period, according to government data.
The Centre had launched UDAY in FY16 to improve the financial stability and operational performance of discoms, which have traditionally been the weak link in India’s power sector.
UDAY was aimed at reducing aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses for discoms to 15 per cent and to reduce the gap between average cost of power supply and average revenue realised (ACS-ARR gap) per unit (1 unit = 1 kilowatt hour) to zero.
