Manipur joins UDAY scheme, to get benefits worth Rs 263 crore

Manipur is the 14th state to join the UDAY and also the first North Eastern state

Manipur has joined the Ujwal DISCOM (distribution company) Assurance Yojana (UDAY) scheme meant for revival of debt-stressed power distribution utilities and will get benefits of around Rs 263 crore.

Manipur is the 14th state to join the UDAY. It is also the first North Eastern state to opt for the UDAY for improving the efficiency of the DISCOM.

The combined DISCOM debt to be restructured in respect of these states is around Rs 2.16 lakh crore as on September 30, 2015.

"Government of India, Manipur and the DISCOM of Manipur signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) under the UDAY scheme on Tuesday for operational turnaround of the DISCOM," Power Ministry said in a statement.

The reduction in aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses and transmission losses by Manipur to 15 per cent and 3.20 per cent respectively is likely to bring additional revenue of around Rs 208 crore during the period of turnaround.

The state would also gain around Rs 32 crore due to coal reforms. Besides demand side interventions in the UDAY such as usage of energy-efficient light emitting diode bulbs, agricultural pumps would result in gain of around Rs 17 crore.

It said that improvement in operation efficiency would enable the DISCOM to borrow at cheaper rates in future, for their infrastructure development and improvement of existing infrastructure. The expected benefit to the State on this account is around Rs 6 crore during the turnaround period.

An overall net benefit of approximately Rs 263 crore would accrue to the state by opting to participate in the UDAY, by way of cheaper funds, reduction in AT&C and transmission losses, interventions in energy efficiency, coal reforms etc. during the period of turnaround.

The healthy DISCOMs in Manipur would be in a position to supply more power. Thus, the scheme would allow speedy availability of power to around 188 villages and 2.43 lakh households in the state that are still without electricity.