The Union power ministry’s flagship programme UDAY has not improved the finances of power distribution companies in laggard states. Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, and Jammu & Kashmir are among eight states whose aggregate transmission and commercial (AT&C) losses have gone up after they joined the debt-restructuring scheme.

Twenty-six states have joined UDAY so far. A higher percentage of AT&C losses indicates the poor health of the power supply and distribution infrastructure. In a press release in July, Union government-owned Power Finance ...