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The government has taken further steps to address liquidity issues affecting the <keyword id="53091" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="discoms">discoms</keyword> during the Covid-19 pandemic. It approved a special liquidity facility by way of additional working capital loan to be extended by state-owned financing agencies <keyword id="77463" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Power-Finance-Corporation">Power Finance Corporation</keyword> (PFC) and REC. As per the decision taken by <keyword id="5056893" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-Cabinet-Committee-on-Economic-Affairs">the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs</keyword> (CCEA), PFC and REC will provide working capital loan to discoms this year in excess of the limit of 25 per cent of last year's revenue. This will be provided under distribution sector reform programme <keyword id="3133296" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ujwal-Discom-Assurance-Yojana">Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana</keyword> or UDAY. "We have decided to give this relaxation to help discoms cope with disruptions caused by Covid. It will be available till the situation normalises," said Minister of Information and Broadcasting Prakash Javadekar while briefing media persons about the Cabinet decisions. The fresh loan option will come as another shot in the arm for financially distressed discoms. Under the Aatmanirbhar Bharat scheme, the Centre has already announced a Rs 90,000 crore liquidity window for discoms to help them pay their dues to generation companies. Discoms' dues to the gencos have already risen to Rs 1.3 lakh crore as of June, 2020 and their losses are projected to double to around Rs 58,000 crore this year. The outstanding debt with discoms is already over Rs 4.5 lakh crore. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/news/new-bmw-3-series-gran-turismo-shadow-edition-price-pictures-specification-and-other-details/slidelist/77633228.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Inside pics: BMW 3 Series Gran Turismo ‘Shadow Edition’ launched in India</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/cabinet-approves-creation-of-national-recruitment-agency-for-government-and-psu-bank-jobs/articleshow/77632641.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink">Cabinet approves creation of ‘National Recruitment Agency’ — Government and PSU bank job seekers will now have to clear a single central test</a>

Govt provides further liquidity to power discoms — eases working capital norms

The Center expects all states to affirm the Ujwal DISCOMs Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme by one month from now, paving the path for them to issue bonds by March 2017 to handle their mountings debts, Power Minister <keyword id="6355222" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Piyush-Goyal">Piyush Goyal</keyword> said on Saturday. 
 
" Goyal expressed positiveness that all states would come overboard by end of November, 2016 so that they can complete the formalities of signing the MoUs by December this year and complete the process of issuing bonds by March, 2017," Power Ministry said in a release. 
 
Under the UDAY so far 17 states/UTs signed the MoU with Maharashtra being the latest. 
 The consolidated <keyword id="3285669" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="discom-debt">discom debt</keyword>, including focal PSU duty that would be rebuilt in regard of these states is around Rs 2.57 lakh crore, which is around 68 for each penny of the aggregate remarkable discom debt as on September 30, 2015. 
 The Minister communicated that 100 per cent Rural Electrification, including villages in LWE (Left Wing Extremism) Districts and dense forests, would be accomplished by May 1, 2017, one year in front of timetable as set by Prime Minister <keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword>. 
 
He informed that Rural Electrification Corporation is in the process of drawing up a scheme for extending long-term basis soft loans to states at a flat rate to electrify all households for both APL and BPL population. 
 
"A National Electricity Plan has been prepared to forecast the actual demand of electricity in real time and to attract new investments in the sector to promote new power generation capacity," Goyal said. 
 
Talking about a new initiative, he said that government would aid the setting up of small solar units by farmers, which would in turn power agricultural pump sets. 
 Informing about developments in the mining sector, Mines Secretary Balvinder Kumar said Ministry has asked <keyword id="37102" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Andhra-Pradesh">Andhra Pradesh</keyword>, <keyword id="43945" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chhattisgarh">Chhattisgarh</keyword>, Haryana, Kerala and Goyal <keyword id="44522" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uttarakhand">Uttarakhand</keyword> to modify their rules to enable auctioning of minor mineral blocks.

Centre expects all states to fall under UDAY scheme in a month

<keyword id="6354477" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi">Narendra Modi</keyword> government’s new scheme to rescue bankrupt <keyword id="3129227" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="state-electricity-retailers">state electricity retailers</keyword> is receiving praises. "It (Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (<keyword id="9140" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Uday">UDAY</keyword>)) will help in a big way in wiping out the losses of <keyword id="53091" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="discoms">discoms</keyword> by 2019," Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal said. 

	The government had said yesterday that state governments, which own the discoms, can take over 75 per cent of their debt as of September 30 and pay back lenders by selling bonds. 
 

	For the remaining 25 per cent, discoms will issue bonds. 
 

	The central government will also ease rules to allow states participating in the scheme to borrow more and help with the additional burden. 
 

	Meanwhile, P K Pujari, Secretary, Power, said state specific issues are being addressed in meeting the target announced by the Prime Minister in his Independence Day address for electrifying the remaining 18,500 un-electrified villages of the country in the next 1,000 days. 
 Secretary, <keyword id="347421" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="MNRE">MNRE</keyword>, Upendra Tripathy said Renewable Energy is not electricity alone but a package of health and environment. 
	 
	(Image credits: Indiatimes)

Huge hopes pinned on UDAY to revive state electricity retailers from their bankruptcy

New Delhi, Jan 27 () Asserting that the UDAY scheme was not a failure Power Minister R K Singh on Monday said an improved version of the programme, meant for revival for discoms, may be announced in the Union Budget later this week.
 "We have discussed the new (UDAY) scheme with Finance Ministry. We expect it to find place in the Budget," Singh said at the sidelines of the listing ceremony of the USD 750-million international bond of Power Finance Corporation (PFC) at NSE.
 He also indicated that unlike earlier practice of having multiple schemes, the centre would channelise all efforts through one scheme, and states would have to reduce the losses of discoms to get all the benefits.
 Targeting to cut discom losses to below 15 per cent, he said power would be sold on strong financial mechanism and the states would decide on their own subsidies.
 "The Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme is not a failure. We have reduced losses of discoms from over 22 per cent to around 18 per cent...," he stated.
 Last year in August the centre had made it mandatory to provide letter of credit for buying power by the discoms.
 Beside, single day advance payment mechanism had also been introduced.
 Meanwhile, at the event, PFC CMD Rajeev Sharma said the company's single largest bond attracted a demand of USD 2.2 billion and was priced at 3.95 per cent coupon rate for tenure of 10.25 years taking the total foreign borrowings to USD 6 billion. KKS ANS
ANS

UDAY not failure; new scheme likely in Budget: R K Singh

New Delhi, Feb 1 () Old coal-fired power plants not meeting emission norms will be closed and their land put to alternative use, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Saturday as she provided Rs 4,400 crore in her Budget for measures to ensure clean air.
 She also announced expansion of PM KUSUM scheme for harnessing solar energy by farmers for achieving diesel-free agriculture eventually.
 Besides, the minister indicated in her Budget speech that there would be a new scheme to reduce financial stress of debt-laden power distribution firms and incentives will be provided in form of lower corporate tax for new power projects.
 "There are yet, thermal power plants that are old and their carbon emission levels are high. For such power plants, we propose that utilities running them would be advised to close them, if their emission is above the pre-set norms. The land so vacated can be put to alternative use," Sitharaman said.
 The new scheme would be implemented by environment ministry with an outlay of Rs 4,400 crore.
 "In large cities having population above one million, clean air is a matter of concern. The government proposes to encourage such states that are formulating and implementing plans for ensuring cleaner air in cities above one million. Parameters for the incentives would be notified by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate change. Allocation for this purpose is Rs 4,400 crore for 2020-21," she said.
 About this initiative of the government, Power Minister R K Singh told reporters that there are certain plants which either do not have space for putting emission control equipment or they simply cannot do that.
 The initiative is expected to nudge states to close all those old thermal power plants and capitalise vacated land.
 The finance minister also proposed to extend the concessional corporate tax rate of 15 per cent to new domestic companies engaged in the generation of electricity in order to attract investment in power sector.
 In September 2019, the government introduced new provision of offering a concessional corporate tax rate of 15 per cent to the newly incorporated domestic companies in the manufacturing sector which start manufacturing by March 31, 2023, for boosting the sector. Now this is extended to new power plants as well.
 "Taking electricity to every household has been a major achievement. However, the distribution sector, particularly the DISCOMS are under financial stress...Further measures to reform DISCOMs would be taken. I propose to provide about Rs 22,000 crore to power and renewable energy sector in 2020-21," she said in her Budget speech.
 The power sector is facing stress due to poor financial conditions of discoms in the country. The government launched Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) in November 2015 to bring about operational and financial turnaround of debt-laden discoms.
 On this, Singh has said the ministry has a draft scheme for revival of discoms, which would be finalised and sent for Cabinet approval.
 He also said states would have to agree on loss reduction trajectory under the scheme to get financial assistance as well as funding from central PSUs PFC and REC.
 Giving a thrust to clean energy in the Budget, the finance minister also expanded the existing Pradhan Mantri Kisan Urja Suraksha Utthan Mahabhiyan (PM KUSUM) scheme to provide assistance for setting up about 35 lakh solar pumps by farmers.
 "We have provided energy sovereignty through KUSUM.In the Budget speech of July 2019, I had stated that 'annadata' can be 'urjadata' too. The PM-KUSUM scheme removed farmers' dependence on diesel and kerosene and linked pump sets to solar energy," Sitharaman said.
 She proposed to expand the scheme to 20 lakh farmers for setting up stand-alone solar pumps and also help another 15 lakh farmers solarise their grid-connected pump sets.
 The scheme also enables farmers to set up solar power generation capacity and sell it to the grid.
 PM KUSUM scheme was unveiled last year with an outlay of Rs 34,422 crore.
 The scheme has three components-- 10,000 megawatts (MW) of decentralised ground mounted grid-connected renewable power plants ; installation of 17.50 lakh standalone solar powered agriculture pumps and solarisation of 10 lakh grid-connected solar powered agriculture pumps.
 The finance minister also told the House that a scheme to enable farmers to set up solar power generation capacity on their fallow/barren lands and to sell it to the grid would be operationalized under PM KUSUM.
About pre-paid smart electricity meters, she said: "The ministry intends to promote "smart" metering. I urge all the states and Union Territories to replace conventional energy meters by prepaid smart meters in the next 3 years. Also, this would give consumers the freedom to choose the supplier and rate as per their requirement."
 The government has proposed Rs 5,753 crore outlay for new and renewable energy ministry for 2020-21 as against Rs 3,891.74 crore revised estimate for 2019-20. The budget estimate was Rs 5,254.83 crore. KKS ANZ ANU
ANU

Budget's push for clean air: Old thermal power plants to shut

The Indian <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=power+sector&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">power sector</a> has been abuzz since the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=NDA+government+&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">NDA government </a>took over. 
 From announcing UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana) to boosting domestic <keyword id="500152" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="coal-supply">coal supply</keyword>, ramping up the country’s ailing transmission networks offering subsidized gas to plants, several initiatives have been introduced. 
 
EESL’s Managing Director Saurabh Kumar told Business Insider the current government’s efforts are ‘laudable’ in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the Energy Infra Post launch. 
 “The <keyword id="6385673" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="power-sector">power sector</keyword> has transformed in the last 2 years, after the new government came in. Coal production has gone up, supply has improved, and attempts are being made to improve transmission lines. That’s laudable”, Kumar told reporters. 
 
Domestic <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=coal+supply&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">coal supply</a> has improved and international coal prices have fallen over the last two years. Thermal power, which accounts for approx 70% of the country’s power generation, rose around 5% to 943 billion units in 2015-16. The country’s thermal power capacity has shot up more than 11% to 2,10,675 MW by March 2016. 
 
According to the government’s targets, the country’s transmission lines network will be expanded to a further 3,64,900 cKm by March 2017. The addition of 2,49,400 MVA transformation capacity during 2012-16, has been the highest ever in the country’s history. 
 
When asked about the country’s power challenges, Kumar said, “Wind power is under-utilized, renewable power should be more widely adopted and we’ll have to bring focus back to hydro-electric power. Coal and gas-based power plants must also be revived.” 
 
The current government has been conducting auctions to revive stranded gas-based plants. 
 
Image credit: Indiatimes

‘India’s Power sector has
transformed in the last 2 years’: EESL MD
Saurabh Kumar

Despite the <keyword id="6602196" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Uday-scheme">UDAY scheme</keyword>, the state utilities have to pay an outstanding amount of Rs 22,200 crore to <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=power&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">power</a> stations. 
 
The Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY), which was launched last year to reduce the interest burden and minimise power losses during distribution, was joined by 18 states. 
 
Eight states issued bonds of about Rs 1 lakh crore. 
 
READ MORE: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/We-have-sufficient-power-and-progress-is-on-for-last-mile-connectivity-saysPower-Minister-Piyush-Goyal/articleshow/51988653.cms">We have sufficient power and progress is on for last mile connectivity, says Power Minister Piyush Goyal</a> 
 
Rajasthan had issued Rs 37, 350 crore in bonds and registered marginal year-on-year fall of Rs 81 crore in its dues to central stations at Rs 1,128 crore as of March end. 
 
Likewise, Uttar Pradesh had issued bond at about Rs 24,330 crore but witnessed <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/India-is-likely-to-spend-1-trillion-on-power-by-2030-says-Power-Minister-Piyush-Goyal/articleshow/50917988.cms">power</a> dues touch from Rs 841 crore to Rs 2,672 crore during the same period. 
 
Haryana had raised Rs 17,000 crore through a bond issue, but reported flat outstanding at Rs 65 crore. 
 
“We need to give the power utilities at least two more year before we start to draw any conclusion. It is too early to draw any conclusion from the increased outstanding," Arvind Mahajan, head of infrastructure and government services at KPMG, told ET. 
 
Meanwhile, ET quoted Sabyasachi Majumdar, senior vice-president at ICRA Ratings, saying the power demand had risen in the last one year. 
 
"It is likely that the total dues would rise as utilities buy more power from generators. The effects of UDAY will start to reflect on the outstanding and balance sheets of utilities only after March 2017. We need to give these power distribution companies an additional year to see any sizeable effect on their financial position," he said. 
 
(Image: BCCL)

States to pay outstanding dues of Rs 22,000 crore to power generation stations

<keyword id="3261283" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Economic-Survey-2016">Economic Survey 2016</keyword> hints towards a positive growth of the <keyword id="6385673" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="power-sector">power sector</keyword> that is almost crippled with problems. Here’s the health report of the power sector. 

	• There has been record addition to generation capacity. 2014-15 marked the highest ever increase in generation capacity: 26.5 GW, much higher than the average annual addition of around 19 GW over the previous five years. 
 

	• Capacity enhancements in the power sector are unprecedented. These measures have helped to reduce India’s peak electricity deficit to 2.4 per cent, the lowest ever.
 

	• There has been a comprehensive initiative to improve the health and performance of power distribution companies—UDAY, the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana
 

	• Indian Railways is attempting to shift to open access for power purchase.
 

	• Renewables have received a major policy push. Targets have been revised from 32 Gigawatts to 175 Gigawatts by 2022. In the latest round of auction under the National Solar Mission, tariff reached an all time low of Rs. 4.34 /KWh.
 

	• Tantalising signs of moving to One Market in Power are becoming evident.
 

	Though the power sector has seen sweeping changes but it is still almost paralyzed with challenges, said Jaitley.
 

	Hence Jaitley came out with some long term policy issues for the revival of the sector.
 

	• Power tariff schedules are currently complex. Given high tariffs on industry, firms may be shifting from purchasing electricity from utilities to generating their own power.
 

	1. 47 per cent of firms report using a diesel generator
 

	2. Between 2006-07 and 2014-15, electricity procurement from utilities grew by 4.6 per cent annually, slower than the 9.3 per cent growth in self-generation.
 

	• Cross-subsidy surcharges and non-price regulatory measures are key tools for balancing DISCOMS’ equity and access considerations, but they may also hinder the creation of a nationwide electricity market.
 

	• Compared to other developing countries, India’s domestic power tariff schedules have greater scope for progressivity. Increases in tariffs for rich households can be achieved while maintaining or reducing tariffs for the poor.
 

	The Economic Survey 2015-16 suggest that tariffs can be made simple and transparent, reducing the gap between producers and distributors and by taking advantage of the possibility of greater progressivity in rate-setting, charges for the poor could be reduced while generating more revenues.
 

	State Governments and State Regulators should work together. The power sector is a perfect crucible for making effective the cooperative-competitive federalism experiment that is now India, the Survey adds.

	 
	 
	(Image credits: Indiatimes)

Economic Survey 2016: Sweeping reforms in power but tariffs must come down

More than a month has passed since the cabinet gave its approval to the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana or <keyword id="9140" type="PERSON" weightage="80" keywordseo="Uday">UDAY</keyword> for short. The scheme has certain salient features that will help India's growing power sector face one of its most challenging problems. 
 The scheme comes forth at a time when DISCOMs have seen accumulated losses soaring to 3.8 lakh Crores and an outstanding debt of approximately Rs. 4.3 lakh Crore (as on March 2015). Just to put these numbers in perspective, the outstanding debt is close to twice the defence budget of the country at present. A question that naturally arises is what made things come to such a pass? The fact is DISCOMs have been facing problems for a long time now. However, the financial problem that DISCOMs have been facing became acute in the past 4-5 years as they began funding their operational losses by taking on more debt. Debt restructuring for DISCOMs have happened in the past but this time, it appears the government is keen on finding a long-term solution to the problem. Debt at present comes with <keyword id="6371181" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="interest-rates">interest rates</keyword> hovering as high as 15%. This high interest cost has trapped DISCOMs in a vicious debt cycle. Due to this the banks, have seen their NPA's rise that is a cause of concern for both the banks and the RBI. 
 
The scheme thus comes at an opportune time and tries to resolve these legacy issues of the Power sector in the next 2-3 years by a four-pronged approach. 
 
First, it seeks to improve the operational efficiencies of the power DISCOMs. It is proposed to be done through proper metering, up-gradation to energy efficient modes like usage of LED's the prices for which have already seen a tremendous downward spiral. Prices of LEDs have seen a tremendous downward spiral due to the removal of supply-side bottlenecks and with that economies of scale bringing prices further down. The measures to improve operational efficiency are done with a view to reducing the average AT&amp;C losses from the present 22 percent to a target of 15 percent by 2018-19. 
 
Second, the scheme proposes a reduction in the cost of power. It is a step that would require improvements across the upstream side of value chain right from the fuel supply to improvements in generation technologies and betterment in the existing and addition of new transmission line infrastructure. The government is keen to bring in improvements in these. In the previous year, the power sector has seen the highest production growth in coal sector as well as the highest capacity addition in the generation and highest ever transmission line additions. 
 
Third, the scheme seeks to reduce the interest cost of DISCOMs. It is to be done by asking states to take over 75 percent of the debt of DISCOMs as on 30 September 2015. The 75 percent debt is in line with the recommendations of the Fourteenth Finance Commission. The scheme proposes it to be done in 2 Phases- the first 50 percent to be taken over in 2015-16 and the rest 25 percent to be taken over by 2016-17. It is expected that this will reduce the interest cost by an estimated 6-7 percent thus disrupting the debt trap in which the DISCOMs seem to be stuck at present. 
 Finally, the scheme seeks to enforce financial discipline in DISCOMs by aligning them with states' finances. The initial years will see the fiscal space remaining the same for states even when they take over the debts. It is to be done by ensuring that for the initial two years evaluation of debt in the <keyword id="6365485" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="80" keywordseo="fiscal-deficit">fiscal deficit</keyword> does not take place. Also, the scheme proposes to make the states accountable by giving them the power to take over and fund at least 50 percent of the future losses (if any) of the DISCOMs in a graded manner. 
 
The scheme is optional and has so far seen has seen enrolment by nine states according to the official Twitter handle of the Power Minister. The scheme overall seems well thought through and is not just a restructuring package but a major reform that will help secure power for all citizens. In the process, it is hoped it will forever change the dynamics of DISCOMs in the country. Other sectors need to bring in such ‘reforms’ to make the states and well as India globally competitive. 
 
The article is co-authored with Sankalp Sharma, Senior Researcher at the Institute for Competitiveness, India. Amit Kapoor is Chair, Institute for Competitiveness &amp; Editor of Thinkers. The views expressed are personal. Amit can be reached at <a href="mailto:amit.kapoor@competitiveness.in">amit.kapoor@competitiveness.in</a> and tweets @kautiliya)

Power Sector
Reforms: The story of UDAY so far

The <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=prime+minister+narendra+modi&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Prime Minister Narendra </a><a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=prime+minister+narendra+modi&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">Modi</a>-led Indian government will complete two years in office on May 26. Modi and his army of ministers had their share of praises and criticism in these two years and their performances were also analysed at every step with an eagle’s eye.

	We also analysed the performance of Modi's lieutenants in the Cabinet and we begin with <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=piyush+goyal&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">India’s Power Minister Piyush Goyal</a>. <o:p></o:p>

	Goyal initiated many path-breaking initiatives in all the three sectors-<a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=power+supply&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">power</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=coal&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">coal</a> and <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=renewable+energy&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">renewable energy</a>.

	He has been working on keeping his word on ‘power for all’, at a time when millions of Indians had given up on the idea of having adequate power supply and most industries had switched to high cost diesel generated power for uneven power supply. <o:p></o:p>

	The reforms he brought under his leadership in the ministry was noticed by international rating agencies such as Standard &amp; Poor’s and also the funding majors like World Bank, ADB, IFC–who have time and again cited lack of reforms in these sectors as one of the major bottlenecks in India’s growth story.

	READ ALSO: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/We-have-sufficient-power-and-progress-is-on-for-last-mile-connectivity-saysPower-Minister-Piyush-Goyal/articleshow/51988653.cms">We have sufficient power and progress is on for last mile connectivity, says Power Minister Piyush Goyal</a>

	“We have a long journey ahead of us. I do hope that in these two years, we have been able to create a structural frame work where people have hope and confidence that things can be done honestly, things can be done with a great degree of participation and cooperation amongst difference sections of all the stakeholders,” said Goyal.<o:p></o:p>

	Presently, under ‘one nation, one grid, one frequency’, the Available Transfer Capacity (ATC) of southern Indian states such as Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Puducherry has increased by 71% to 5,900 MW from 3,450 MW in 2013-14. <o:p></o:p>

	“Transmission has gone up remarkably by 71% in only 18 months and most of the southern region today is power surplus-- from an era when they used to buy power at as high as Rs 16-Rs 18 a unit to reaching a point when they do not have to pay more than Rs 4-5 now. Usually, power is available under Rs 3 and with the launch of Vidyut Pravah,” Goyal said.

	READ ALSO: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/Shout-out-to-northern-India-Power-cuts-will-be-a-thing-of-the-past-assures-Power-Minister-Piyush-Goyal/articleshow/51988798.cms">Shout out to northern India! Power cuts will be a thing of the past, assures Power Minister Piyush Goyal</a>

	After Goyal assumed charge, he accepted the challenge of turning around a sector that was symbolic of the impact of decades of inefficient bureaucracy coupled with visionless policies.

	Areas like <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=energy+efficiency&amp;sortorder=effectivedate">energy efficiency</a> have never been so popular in India. Today, India is running the world’s largest energy efficiency programme and on a recent visit to the US and UK, the two nations actually took energy efficiency lessons from India.<o:p></o:p>

	Also, one of the biggest achievements of Goyal-led ministry has been the introduction of UDAY or Ujwal to light up the power sector. UDAY is an answer to pull the state distribution companies out of their financial and operational inefficiencies.<o:p></o:p>

	 “I think efficiency gains in terms of UDAY, where we are talking about Rs 1,80,000 crore savings per year, when all states come on board, which I am quite sure of, all these gains will be enough to take care of the existing requirements of the discoms. I think we will have to perk up our acts, we will have to be efficient across states and the political pressure of people demanding better quality service and affordable power will make sure that (hopefully) we don't have to increase tariffs,” said Goyal.<o:p></o:p>
 Goyal's other focus area has been renewable energy. From just 3000 MW <keyword id="70990" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Solar-power">solar power</keyword> generation since independence, he set an ambitious target of setting up 1,00,000 MW, or 100 GW, of solar capacity within five years and by 2019.<o:p></o:p>

	In 2015-16, the largest ever wind capacity addition of 3,300 MW was achieved. There has been a 157% increase in solar capacity since 2014 of 4,132 MW. Solar projects of capacity 20,904 MW were tendered in 2015-16 of which, projects of 11,209 MW have already been awarded. 32 Solar Parks of 19,400 MW capacity have been sanctioned in 20 states. <o:p></o:p>
 <keyword id="6356966" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Coal">Coal</keyword> is the mainstay of India’s energy needs. The crisis arising from the cancellation of 204 coal blocks by the Supreme Court was answered with a fair and transparent auction and allocation process which, is estimated to bring in potential revenue for coal bearing states of about Rs 3.44 lakh crore over the lifetime of 74 mines.

	Electricity generation has also picked up, almost matching demand. Energy deficit during the current year has been reduced to its lowest level ever of 2.1% from 11.1% in 2008-09. Similarly, peak shortage has been reduced from 11.9% in 2008-09 to 3.2%, again, the lowest ever.

	Thermal electricity generation grew at 7.4% in 2015-16 with a strong performance in March of 15.9% y-o-y. To sustain this growth the highest ever capacity addition of 46,738 MW in conventional power has been attained in 2014-16, accounting for around a fifth of our current conventional capacity.<o:p></o:p>

	 “All the above extraordinary results have been made possible by the joint efforts of Team India and the unprecedented stress on transparency and accountability in governance. With our Government’s initiatives and the support of 125 crore Indians we will soon be successful in illuminating the life of every Indian thus creating an Ujwal Bharat,” said Goyal.

	(Anupama Airy is the Founder and Editor of EnergyInfraPost.com and DefenceAviationPost.com. She can be reached at <a href="mailto:anupama.airy@gmail.com" target="_blank">anupama.airy@gmail.com</a>​, Twitter handle: @anupamaairy)

	<o:p> </o:p>

You Searched For "Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana" and got 10 results

Govt provides further liquidity to power discoms — eases working capital norms

IANS

Centre expects all states to fall under UDAY scheme in a month

BI India Bureau

Huge hopes pinned on UDAY to revive state electricity retailers from their bankruptcy

BI India Bureau

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