Power is one of the most important drivers of growth in an economy. The power sector has seen a transformational growth in the recent years on various fronts like generation capacity, strengthening of transmission and distribution networks, village electrification, energy efficiency and supply of electricity. Ministry of Power (MoP) is on a mission mode to put in place a robust power sector to power the high economic growth agenda of the country. The electrification of Leisang village in Manipur on 28th April 18 marked the crossing of a historic milestone in achieving 100% village electrification by the country. The objective of "Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana-(Saubhagya)" scheme is to provide last mile connectivity to all households in rural and urban areas by March 19. The achievement of these two key milestones would totally transform the rural economic landscape; promote inclusive growth and turbocharger the Indian Economy towards a high growth trajectory.   
 
KEYWORDS: Discoms, Integrated Rating, AT&C losses, MoP, PFC, UDAY, Strengths, Concerns. 

Introduction A strong and efficient distribution sector is an essential prerequisite for the development of a robust, self-sustaining power sector. The State Power Sector entities play a major role in power distribution in India and to implement various schemes / majors drawn by MoP several viz. Saubhagya, IPDS, DDUGJY, UDAY, etc. for bringing about improvements in the efficiency of technical, operational, financial and managerial areas of utility functioning. The Integrated Rating Methodology is one of the key initiatives of Government of India to objectively assess the performance of the distribution utilities across various parameters and enable utilities to draw up corrective action plans for improving their performance.

Sixth Annual Integrated exercise report covering 41 state Distribution Utilities spread over 22 States in respect of their performance for FY 17 was released in July, 18. State Power / Energy Deptts . and private Power Sector Distribution Companies are however not covered under integrated rating exercise. ICRA and CARE are the designated rating agencies who have been assigned 21 & 20 utilities respectively. MoP mandated Power Finance Corporation) (PFC) to the rating exercise.  

Prior to this five integrated rating exercises covering FY 12, FY 13, FY 14, FY 15 and FY 16 have been completed. The first integrated rating report was released / declared by MoP in March 13, the second in February 14, the third in August 15, the fourth in June 16 and fifth integrated ratings released on 3rd May 17.This annual integrated rating initiatives that aims at evaluating the operational and financial performance of State Distribution utilities differs from the financial rating exercise as the later measure the extent of ability of an entity to carry out debt servicing liability.