Screaming Skull
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New Delhi, April 8 NTPC Ltd on Wednesday announced a 5.56 per cent rise in provisional net profit at Rs 7,827.4 crore for 2008-09, after setting aside over Rs 1,400 crore to be paid to employees as revised wages during the fiscal.
Gross revenue was up 13.76 per cent at Rs 45,522 crore during the fiscal, its Chairman and Managing Director, Mr R.S. Sharma, said here.
The company had to make a provision of Rs 1,402 crore for wages, including an additional Rs 600 crore in the March quarter. Had it not been for the provision, our annual net profit would have crossed Rs 8,000-crore mark, NTPCs Director (Finance), Mr A.K. Singhal, said on the sidelines of a press conference held to announce its 2008-09 provisional financial numbers.
The total employee strength of NTPC as on March 31 was 24,698, which the company plans to raise by 1,000 in 2009-10.
Capital expenditure
The state-owned utility has a planned capital expenditure of Rs 17,700 crore during 2009-10. Mr Sharma outlined borrowings of about Rs 11,330 crore during this fiscal for enhancing its capacity by 3,300 MW. It plans a capacity addition of about 22,430 MW during the current Five-Year Plan period (2007-12).
The company plans to raise loan worth Rs 8,500 crore from a public sector bank for financing the capital expenditure of its projects for the next three years, he said. NTPC also plans to import 12.5 million tonnes of coal for bridging gap between domestic supplies and total requirement of 135 million tonnes during this fiscal.
NTPC contributed 28.6 per cent (206.94 billion units) of the total electricity generated in the country during 2008-09, despite accounting for only 18.79 per cent (27,850 MW) of the total installed capacity of the country. The power major aims to generate 217 billion units of electricity in 2009-10.
Its coal-based power plants recorded a plant load factor of 91.14 per cent against 92.24 per cent during 2007-08. Out of the companys existing installed capacity of 30,144 MW, 2,292 MW are under various joint ventures. Eighteen projects totalling 17,930 MW, including three hydel projects having a combined capacity of 1,920 MW, are currently under construction, a company release said. This also includes projects under joint ventures.
It is also targeting a solar power capacity of 10 MW at Anta in Rajasthan and 25 MW at Singrauli in Madhya Pradesh. Mr Sharma said the company has also got approval from the Uttarakhand government to explore geo-thermal projects in the State.
Overseas Coal blocks
Mr Sharma said the company is looking at acquiring coal blocks in Indonesia and Mozambique. We have proposals from four groups in Indonesia and two in Mozambique, he said. The company plans to import 12.5 million tonnes of coal in 2009-10. It imported 6.5 million tonnes in 2008-09. Its total requirement of coal is expected to touch 225 million tonnes by 2012 which will be met by 195 million tonnes of domestic supplies from Coal India Ltd and 15 million tonnes each from captive production and imports.