One of the major challenges faced by the Indian Power sector relates to the financial health of the Distribution Companies(DISCOMS). At the end of the Financial Year 2014-15(March 2015), DISCOMS in India had accumulated losses of about Rs. 3.8 Lakh Crores and outstanding debt of about Rs. 4.3 Lakh Crores. The poor financial strength of the discoms have led to power shortages, inability to provide achieve 100% electrification and inability to increase power generation.
UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana) was launched in November 2015 with the objective of financial turnaround of Power Distribution Companies. States signing up for UDAY scheme will get assistance from the Ministry of Power in several ways like
- Reduction in power cost through better coal linkages, coal swaps and others
- Reduced borrowing costs
- Grant of additional/priority funding through Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY),Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), Power Sector Development Fund (PSDF) or other such schemes of Ministry of Power and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.
All the support from the central government would be based on achieving operational milestones. Details of the scheme can be downloaded here.
The list of all the states that have joined UDAY scheme are as follows.
| State | Month of Joining | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andhra Pradesh | June 2016 |
| 2 | Arunachal Pradesh | March 2017 |
| 3 | Assam | January 2017 |
| 4 | Bihar | February 2016 |
| 5 | Chhattisgarh | January 2016 |
| 6 | Goa | June 2016 |
| 7 | Gujarat | February 2016 |
| 8 | Jammu & Kashmir | March 2016 |
| 9 | Jharkhand | January 2016 |
| 10 | Haryana | March 2016 |
| 11 | Himachal Pradesh | October 2016 |
| 12 | Karnataka | June 2016 |
| 13 | Kerala | March 2017 |
| 14 | Madhya Pradesh | August 2016 |
| 15 | Maharashtra | October 2016 |
| 16 | Manipur | July 2016 |
| 17 | Meghalaya | |
| 18 | Mizoram | April 2017 |
| 19 | Punjab | March 2016 |
| 20 | Puducherry | August 2016 |
| 21 | Rajasthan | January 2016 |
| 22 | Sikkim | February 2017 |
| 23 | Tamilnadu | January 2017 |
| 24 | Telangana | January 2017 |
| 25 | Tripura | March 2017 |
| 26 | Uttar Pradesh | January 2016 |
| 27 | Uttrakhand | April 2016 |