‘State utilities must be financially viable’

COVER STORY

Interview arup roy choudhury

‘State utilities must be financially viable’

NTPC is India’s largest power utility, the third largest power generation company in Asia and the tenth largest in the world, with an installed capacity of 39,174 MW through 16 coal based, 7 gas / liquid fuel and 7 Joint Venture power stations. NTPC added a record capacity of 2820 MW during the year 2011-12 surpassing its earlier best capacity addition of 2490 MW during 2010-11. With this addition the company surpassed the 11th plan target of 9220 MW by achieving total capacity addition of 9610 MW. In the first quarter of 2012-13, NTPC has already added 2,160 MW. In this interview with gfiles, NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Arup Roy Choudhury outlines his vision for the company. A firm believer in achieving team-excellence through transformational shift to proactive, positive and personalised approach, Choudhury is Chairman of Standing Conference of Public Enterprises, the apex body of over 240 Central Public Sector Enterprises.

The power sector has not been a favourite in recent times. What factors have actually led to the growth of NTPC?

In the case of NTPC, the company has maintained its leadership position, with steady focus on high generation, efficient project implementation and overall business excellence. The company is currently undertaking capacity addition of 16,638 MW and has signed PPAs for over 40,000 MW for sustained growth through the 12th Plan and the start of the 13th Plan.

Please tell us about NTPC’s financial performance in the first quarter of this fiscal?

NTPC has reported an unaudited profit after tax of Rs 2,498.67 crore as compared to Rs 2,075.78 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year, registering a quarter on quarter increase of 20 per cent. Its total income was Rs 16,844.89 crore as against Rs 15,167.89 crore for last year’s corresponding quarter, an increase of 11 per cent. We generated 58878 MUs of electricity from April to June 2012, an improvement of 7.83 per cent over Q1 2011-12.....READMORE