Red tape slows Rs 90,000 crore lifeline to India power retailers
Two months after India announced a Rs 90,000 crore ($12 billion) loan program to aid power distributors punished by the pandemic, only a fraction has been utilized as many state applications have yet to meet the lending requirements, according to people familiar with the matter.
The loans, announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, are among a raft of measures aimed at reviving an economy that’s forecast to contract this fiscal year for the first time in more than four decades.
Meanwhile, India’s electricity sector, already burdened by perennial losses and unpaid bills, is now seeking to recover lost cash flow after efforts to tame the coronavirus pandemic caused a sharp drop in power demand.
