Puducherry becomes first Union Territory to join UDAY scheme

Puducherry has joined the Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), and will be the first Union Territory to sign an MoU under the scheme. An overall net benefit of around Rs 378 crore would accrue to the UT by opting to participate in UDAY, by way of cheaper funds, reduction in AT&C and transmission losses, and interventions in energy efficiency, during the period of turnaround.

Including Madhya Pradesh, which has also signed the MoU today, a total of 16 States/UT have joined the Scheme till date, with the combined DISCOM debt (including CPSU dues) of around Rs 2.51 lakh crore that would be restructured as on September 30, 2015.

The MoU would help improve operational efficiency of the Electricity Department through compulsory Distribution Transformer metering, consumer indexing & GIS mapping of losses, upgrade/change transformers and meters, smart metering of high-end consumers, and feeder audit.

AT&C losses and transmission losses would be brought down, besides eliminating the gap between cost of supply of power and realisation. The reduction in AT&C losses and transmission losses to 12 per cent and 0.95 per cent respectively is likely to bring additional revenue of around Rs 165 crore during the period of turnaround, according to official release.

While efforts will be made by the Electricity Department of the Union Territory to improve their operational efficiency, and thereby reduce the cost of supply of power, the Central Government would also provide incentives to the Govt of UT for improving Power infrastructure in the Union Territory and for further lowering the cost of power.

The UT shall also be supported through additional coal at notified prices and in case of availability, through higher capacity utilization, low cost power from NTPC and other CPSUs. Other benefits such as coal swapping, coal rationalisation, correction in coal grade slippage, availability of 100 per cent washed coal would help the state to further reduce the cost of Power. The UT would gain around Rs 135 crore due to these coal reforms.

Demand Side interventions in UDAY such as usage of energy-efficient LED bulbs, agricultural pumps, fans & air-conditioners and efficient industrial equipment through PAT (Perform, Achieve, Trade) would help in reducing peak load, flatten load curve and thus help in reducing energy consumption in the Union Territory of Puducherry. The gain is expected to be around Rs.72 crore. Further, with improved efficiency, the Electricity Department would be in a better position to borrow funds at cheaper rates for Power infrastructure development/improvement in the UT.

An overall net benefit of around Rs 378 crore would accrue to the UT by opting to participate in UDAY, by way of cheaper funds, reduction in AT&C and transmission losses, interventions in energy efficiency, etc. during the period of turnaround.

The scheme would allow speedy availability of power to around 7,948 households in the UT that are still without electricity. Availability of cheaper, round the clock power would boost the economy, promote industries, thereby improving employment opportunities for the people of Puducherry.