The finance minister has announced a Rs 3,059.84 billion scheme over five years to reform the power distribution sector in the country as part of the union budget 2020-21. …
The major features of the proposed scheme include prepaid smart metering, feeder separation and up-gradation system etc. The budget highlighted the financial stress of discoms with total outstanding dues of the discoms toward power generating firms at over Rs 1350 billion as of December 2020. The finance minister has announced that a framework will be put in place to give consumers alternatives to choose from among more than one distribution company. To give a further boost to the non-conventional energy sector, the finance minister has also proposed to provide an additional infusion of Rs 10 billion to Solar Energy Corporation of India Limited and Rs 15 billion to Indian Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited. Further, the Hydrogen Energy Mission 2021-22 for generating hydrogen from green sources has also been announced. A national monetisation pipeline of potential brownfield infrastructure assets has also been proposed to be launched, for monetizing operating public infra assets including those of Power Grid Corporation of India Limited.