The Centre expects all States to approve UDAY scheme by next month, paving the way for them to issue bonds by March 2017 to tackle their mountings debts, Power Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday.
“Goyal expressed positiveness that all states would come overboard by end of November, 2016 so that they can complete the formalities of signing the MoUs by December this year and complete the process of issuing bonds by March, 2017,” Power Ministry said in a release. The Minister was speaking to reporters after conclusion of the two-day conference of State Power, New & Renewable Energy and Mines Ministers in Vadodara, it added. Under the Ujwal DISCOMs Assurance Yojana (UDAY) so far 17 states/UTs signed the MoU with Maharashtra being the latest.
The combined discom debt, including central PSU dues, that would be restructured in respect of these states is around Rs2.57 lakh crore, which is around 68 per cent of the total outstanding discom debt as on September 30, 2015. The Minister expressed confidence that 100 per cent Rural Electrification, including villages in lWE Districts and dense forests, would be achieved by May 1, 2017, one year ahead of schedule as set by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi.