India approves rescue package for state power companies - minister

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India approved a rescue package for its loss-making electricity utilities on Thursday, the power minister said, a move Prime Minister Narendra Modi hopes will increase the supply of power and help spur economic growth.

Power Minister Piyush Goyal said after a meeting of the cabinet that the government had cleared the package, which it has been working on for several months, to ease the financial crunch at state-owned utility companies.

(Reporting by Tommy Wilkes and C.K. Nayak; Editing by Malini Menon)