The R.P. Sanjiv Goenka Group company CESC today reported a 4.8 per cent rise in net profit at Rs 131 crore for the quarter ended June 2013 against the corresponding period last year.

Net sales in the quarter stood at Rs 1,419 crore, a marginal 1 per cent growth over the corresponding period when it had registered sales of Rs 1,404 crore.

CESC Chairman Sanjiv Goenka said power demand during the quarter was down marginally.

Addressing the AGM here, Goenka told shareholders that the power sector would pass through difficult times over next few years.

“There is need for consistency and stability in policies. The change of policies should not be retrospective,” he said referring to the problem faced by the Rs 3,000-crore 600 MW (2x300MW) Chandrapur thermal power project in Maharashtra.

“When we started the project coal linkage was not subjected to power purchase agreement but the policy change had put the project in some difficulty and there is some delay in commissioning and in breakeven of the project,” he said.

CESC has only been able to sign PPAs of 100MW with the Tamil Nadu State utility but the management is expected to sign a sale agreement for more in the near future.

The power sector was passing through a slack demand scenario.

However, the situation for the Haldia power plant was not worrying and it would be commissioned as scheduled in September-December 2014.

The 2000-MW power plant in Bihar and the 1320-MW plant in Orissa were awaiting coal linkages, Goenka said.

Goenka also said the company would invest another Rs 1,700 crore in the next two years in the distribution network. The company was also building infrastructure to import up to 3,000 MW to meet future demand.

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