Two states to join power scheme on Wednesday (Lead, correcting para two)

Union Power Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday said two more states will join the Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) on Wednesday and the third a week thereafter.

"Almost the entire country has now joined UDAY. Tomorrow (Wednesday), two large states will join the scheme, followed by one more very large state after one week," he said.

He, however, did not name the states.

"Thereafter, about 90-95 per cent of the national electricity utility debt of the discoms will come under UDAY. Maybe, one or two states will be left. I urge those states to join the scheme," he said after addressing a Confederation of Indian Industry National Council meet.

He claimed there was no shortage of power anywhere in the country.

Asked whether the government will scale down coal production in the light of surplus power and coal, the minister said: "It is a dynamic situation. We continuously keep monitoring on how the demand-supply situation evolves. Power production has grown over 8.5 per cent in November. I would like to make sure we never relapse into coal shortage situation."

--IANS

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