New Delhi: India is considering a bailout exceeding 1 trillion rupees ($12 billion) for debt-laden state-run power distribution companies.

To receive the bailout funds, the states will be required to privatise their electric utilities and transfer managerial control or keep control but list them on a stock exchange, according to three government officials and a document outlining the plan prepared by the Indian Ministry of Power.

The plan marks Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s toughest reform push yet to overhaul the chronically inefficient state-run electricity distribution companies, seen as the weakest link in India’s energy chain.

The Power Ministry and the Ministry of Finance are discussing the final details of the bailout, with an announcement expected in the February budget, said

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