Bonds worth ~1.67 lakh crore sold under UDAY

Power Minister Piyush Goyal (pictured) on Friday said ~1.67 lakh crore worth of bonds have been issued under the Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY).

There will be annual savings of ~1.8 lakh crore from 2019 because of these bonds. “Savings will start accruing from now. Savings for 2016-17 will be ~20,000 crore, ~70,000 crore in 2017-18, ~1 lakh crore in 2019-20 and thereafter the annual savings will be ~1.8 lakh crore. UDAY will be a game changer and a defining moment. So far the performance has been very satisfactory,” Goyal said on the sidelines of the 69th annual general meeting of the Indian Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers’ Association (IEEMA). Goyal said the bonds were in great demand among financial institutions.

UDAY is not a financial bailout for the distribution sector. So far, 16 states have signed agreements with the Centre to join UDAY, he said. “One cannot expect overnight wonders. Schemes launched in the past for the revival of the distribution sector have opened the floodgates for new borrowings. But UDAY has plugged that headroom and thereby indiscriminate fresh borrowings have been clipped. There will be short-term pain, but in the long term, UDAY will create a sustainable and viable distribution sector.”

On the government’s plan to add 100,000-Mw of solar capacity by 2022, Goyal said his ministry expected it might even this target. “When I took over in May 2014, the solar capacity was 2,400 Mw. But after two years and four months, it is now 8,000-Mw-plus.”

According to the minister, the government was helping the Indian solar equipment manufacturers to increase their capacity to achieve Make In India, Made in India and Made for the World. “Local manufacturers have withdrawn their earlier demand for anti-dumping duty on import of solar equipment. I assure you whatever capacity domestic manufacturers create the Government of India will support to utilise it in India. Initially, they had problem with a WTO dispute. But now there are eight cases pending against the US in the World Trade Organization,” he said.

On the low plant load factor, Goyal said 45,000 Mw of stranded thermal capacity has become operational and was generating power. This apart, there has been an increase in generation from solar, wind and hydro. Generation is rapidly ramping up in the short term despite 7 per cent growth in power consumption. Therefore, PLF is down. However, a rise in generation creates confidence in the world on India,” he added.