New Delhi: Debt-laden energy distribution companies in the states that participated in the UDAY program, aimed at reactivating it, have saved Rs 15 billion by March of this year, the Energy Ministry said on Wednesday. The Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) was launched in November 2015 and has completed more than 18 months of operation.
“Participating DISCOMs have achieved net savings of approximately Rs 15,000 until March 2017,” the ministry said in a statement. Average cost of supply (ACS) and average earnings (ARR) have declined by almost 14 countries per unit and AT & C losses (technical and commercial aggregates) have declined by almost 1% in fiscal year 2017.
The ministry said that these states have assumed the target debt of Rs 2.09 lakh crore from their DISCOMs under the exemption of FRBM Law loans given in UDAY for the years 2015-16 and 2016-17. The process of the states that take the specific debts and issue them as SDL bonds has been completed.
From now on, the DISCOM participants have to issue bonds worth approximately 37,000 rupees, which would be done in due time. The rest of the debt with DISCOMs is for the most part the nature of CAPEX, which pays for itself, or debt based on the scheme, which becomes subsidies in whole or in part. Therefore, they are not required to be assumed by States, the ministry added.
Under the UDAY scheme, states would begin to take losses from DISCOMs in a graduated way from now on, starting with taking more than 5 percent of the FY17 losses of the current fiscal year.
Continued, concerted and coordinated efforts by the Center, States and DISCOM, in a spirit of cooperative and competitive federalism, would help turn the distribution sector around by fiscal year 2019, he said.
