In her maiden Union Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has outlined a "One Nation, One Grid" initiative to bring affordable power to all states.
She said that the much-needed power reforms, such as the power tariff reform, should be soon taken up to provide last-mile connectivity and electricity connections to all households in rural and urban areas. She said that this was a part of the 'Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana' scheme, popularly known as the 'Saubhagya' scheme, which was launched by PM Narendra Modi in September 2017.
According to the government data, with 100 per cent electrification target being achieved, the government's focus is now to provide consistent electricity at affordable rates.
A NITI Aayog review of the UDAY (Ujjwal Discom Assurance Yojana) has pointed out that government departments and local bodies have run up electricity bills of Rs 41,386 crore in the first nine months of 2018-19. According to a report by ratings agency CRISIL, this increase in the aggregate external debt of state-owned electricity distribution companies (discoms) will reach pre-Ujwal Discom Assurance Yojana (UDAY) levels.
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