States issue bonds worth Rs 1.66 lakh cr under UDAY scheme

States have already issued bonds worth Rs 1.66 lakh crore under the UDAY scheme for revival of their debt-ridden discoms, Parliament was informed today.
"As on August 1, 2016, bonds worth Rs 1,66,754 crore have been issued by the participating states under UDAY and thus reduction in interest cost has already started. Cost of power is also on a downward trend," Power Minister Piyush Goyal said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha today.
As per the statement, so far, 14 states -- Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, Bihar, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana, Uttarakhand, Goa, Karnataka, Manipur and Andhra Pradesh -- have signed memorandums of understanding (MoUs) under UDAY.

In addition, six states and one Union Territory (UT) have shown their willingness to join the scheme.
The minister said, "A few states including Tamil Nadu and West Bengal have requested the central government to make certain modifications in the scheme. The government of India has already explained the details to them and also extended timeline to facilitate their participation."
The Centre had launched Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) on November 20, 2015 for the financial and operational turnaround of state-owned power distribution companies.
The scheme aims to reduce interest burden, cost of power, losses in distribution and improve operational efficiency of the discoms.

The entities were incurring a loss of Rs 60,000 crore every year and their accumulated debt was Rs 4.37 lakh crore when the scheme was launched.