Kerala to join Uday Scheme: Govt

Thiruvananthapuram, July 22: Kerala has decided to join Uday scheme meant for reviving debt-ridden discoms. "Congratulations to people of Kerala on the state agreeing to join UDAY (Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana) paving way for 24X7 power for all," Power Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted.

UDAY scheme was launched by the Centre in November last year for revival of debt-stressed distribution companies. The discoms have accumulated debt of Rs 4.37 lakh crore. Under the programme, the states will issue bonds to take on 75 per cent of the debt of these discoms and the remaining credit will be paid through state-guaranteed bonds issued by discoms.

The government had last month said that Andhra Pradesh has joined the scheme and an overall net benefit of about Rs 4,400 crore will accrue to the state. Goyal had earlier said that bonds worth Rs 1.5-1.75 lakh crore are expected to be issued in the ongoing fiscal. He further said Uday bonds worth about Rs 1 lakh crore were issued in the last financial year.

PTI