Union Minister of State (IC) for Power, Coal, New & Renewable Energy and Mines, Piyush Goyal’s pet scheme Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY) has tasted its first success, Haryana’s Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), one of the two state power distribution companies of Haryana, has been able to completely eliminate its losses within 10 months of joining UDAY. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ruled state has given the country its first DISCOM which has been turned around the Power Ministry’s Flagship scheme.

The DHBVN or Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam— one of the two state power distribution companies of Haryana that joined the UDAY scheme on March 11, 2016, has recorded a profit for the first time ever since its inception in July 1999. The DISCOM has been able to completely wipe out its losses for the first time but has also posted a profit of Rs 201.35 crore in the first half of the current financial year (2016-17) as against a loss of Rs 479 crore last financial year (2015-16). The Haryana DISCOM is responsible for supplying power to 11 districts of southern Haryana.

The Haryana DISCOM has been reeling under losses worth hundreds of crores resulting from theft of electricity, non-payment of bills, transmission and distribution losses and ever increasing fuel surcharge.The DISCOM ever since it was created along with UHBVN has been posting losses. Having turned around its operations, the company now plans to further double its profits by the end of the current financial year.

A half-yearly analysis by Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC), under Ujwal DISCOM Assurance Yojana (UDAY), has revealed that DHBVN reported a remarkable achievement with a turnaround from losses as steep as ₹471 crore in last financial year to a profit of more than ₹78 crore. REC also observed that DHBVN has improved on billing efficiency and reduced aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses

The turnaround Story of DHBVN will convince the remaining states to join UDAY and allow their loss-making DISCOMS to take advantage of Power Ministry’s flagship scheme.