Rajathan discoms can turnaround under UDAY: Goyal

Power minister Piyush Goyal today expressed hope that Rajasthan state electricity board, saddled with Rs 85,000 crore debt, would turn around into a profit making enterprise in next two years with the help of recently launched Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojna (UDAY).
"Rajasthan would probably turn into a profit making DISCOM in two years under UDAY," he said at a session at the Resurgent Rajasthan Summit.
In a bid to rescue almost bankrupt state electricity retailers, the government earlier this month approved the UDAY scheme for rejig of Rs 4.3 lakh croredebt of the utilitiesbesides measures to cut power thefts and align consumer tariff with cost of generating electricity.

The minister said that Rajasthan has potential to become the leading producer of renewable energy in next five years.
He said that under the Deendayal Upadhyay Gram Jyoti Yojna, there is a potential to save about Rs 700-1000 crore through more efficient bidding and implementation and whatever is saved by the state can be used for other schemes by the state government.
The minister announced that the Centre will provide Rs 325 crore to make Jaipur a world class city.

Meanwhile speaking at the summit, K Shanmugam, Home Affairs Minister of Singapore, highlighted that interest among companies in Singapore for investment in Rajasthan is rising.

"Rajasthan has improved ease of doing business and businessmen are showing much interest for investing in the state of Rajasthan," he said.
During the session, Rajasthan and Singapore signed an MoU for cooperation in masterplaning of Jodhpur and Udaipur cities of the state.
Speaking at the summit, Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister Ananth Kumar said that the Ease of Doing Business should get a pace but it should not be compromised on environment and quality parameters.
"We need to have check and balances while doing business. Start ups should sustain, what ever you want, you do. Some sort of balances, responsibility towards society should be there. I agree with liberalisation and reforms in regulatory system", he said.

During a session on skill development, Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Rajiv Pratap Rudy stressed that the states' role and partnership was needed for Skill India mission for industrial development and to woo investments in business.
Hailing Rajasthan for establishing the first State Skill Mission to converge all skill development schemes under one umbrella, he urged other states to replicate such effective models to streamline the efforts.
Every states' role and partnership was needed for the skill India mission for industrial development to woo investors in business, he added.