The country’s largest power producer, NTPC, has reported an increase in standalone net profit by 10% y-o-y to INR 7,048 crore in April-September, 2022. However, profits were dented by bulging expenses incurred primarily on account of exponential growth in coal imports.
The company’s turnover surged 43% y-o-y to INR 81,041 crore in H1FY’23, while total revenue in the six-month period stood at INR 82,537 crore. This came on the back of strong operational performance which saw the company’s gross power generation rising by 16% y-o-y to 175.98 billion units (BU) during H1FY’23.
The company procures bulk coal domestically, but imports were necessitated to compensate for the shortfall in domestic supply which, at best, was inadequate to satiate demand.
During H1FY’23, NTPC’s domestic coal souring increased 11% y-o-y to 101.98 million tonnes (mnt) as against 91.98 mnt in H1FY22. On the other hand, imports saw a mammoth growth of 1,039% to 10.02 mnt at a time prices in the global market were soaring.
As a result, expenses grew by 44% y-o-y to INR 73,116 crore in H1FY’23, of which amount INR 52,082 crore was incurred solely for fuel costs.
Advancement in coal mining
In order to strengthen its fuel security and reduce dependence on imports, NTPC has been exploring the opportunity to raise supply by increasing production from its allocated coal mines.
Climbing to new highs, coal production from its captive mines jumped 60% y-o-y to 8.4 mnt during April-September, the highest so far.
Recently, the company has commenced operations from the Chatti-Bariatu mine in Jharkhand, which became the fourth mine to start production after Pakri Barwadih, Dulanga and Talaipalli. Boosted by the operationalisation of Chatti-Bariatu, NTPC aims to produce 26 mnt of coal in FY’23.
Currently, the company has seven coal mines with an estimated peak rated capacity of 71 mnt per annum. Apart from the four operational mines, the rest are in different stages of development.
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