Analysis of Uday Scheme in Improving Financial Health of Indian Power Distribution Companies Pre Covid-19

The study aims to find significant initiatives taken under the UDAY scheme and analyze its efficiency in improving the financial performance and initiatives having a major contribution in improving revenue and profit generations of five Indian state DISCOMs. The collection and analysis of pre-COVID-19 financial data by state DISCOMs and the primary analysis were made from the information available on the UDAY portal, offering aggregate and state output information on the 14 different parameters. The five state DISCOMs were selected on the basis of their current annual rating by the Ministry of Power so that the study can be performed for different rated DISCOMs to understand holistic results. The financial criteria examined were a reduction in AT&C losses, a gap between the average power supply cost/unit, and the average realization of revenue per unit (ACS-ARR). Analysis was performed to identify the parameters with a significant impact on improving efficiency for each DISCOM. The findings suggest that initiatives under the UDAY scheme helped in improving five DISCOMs' financial performance, AT&C losses level, and ACS-ARR gap.