The ministry of power was probably right when it pooh-poohed a Crisil Ratings report that said, at a likely `2.6 lakh crore in FY20, the debt levels of government-owned electricity distribution companies (SEBs or discoms) would be similar to the levels they were at in the period before the Uday reforms. In other words, the Uday reforms had changed little on the ground. The ministry said that, contrary to what Crisil said, the pre-Uday debt was around Rs 3.2 lakh crore; indeed, the ministry said “a deeper analysis of Discom debts would reveal a tighter fiscal management by Discoms… (which) have managed their finances with around Rs 40,000 crores less than what was expected under Uday”.
