UDAY

Ten states alongwith their discoms have entered into MoUs with the union power ministry, each making certain commitments aimed at the turnaround of discoms. Out of ten states, discoms in seven states had massive debts – Rs 201,242 crore, and half of this has now been funded through issuance of bonds by the states, at interest rate fixed at bank base rates plus 0.1 per cent.

Union power minister Piyush Goyal said Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) was the most comprehensive assessment for the power sector since it followed a bottoms-up approach, which was why states are accepting it. He said “states have floated bonds worth Rs 1 lakh crore under the scheme in just two-and-a-half months.”