Public sector undertaking and the country’s largest power producer, NTPC Ltd reported a Rs 2,595.25-crore net profit for the first quarter of the financial year 2017-2018. This is 10.9 per cent higher than the Rs 2,339.99-crore net profit reported in the corresponding quarter of financial year 2016-2017.
The average tariff charged to consumers from NTPC’s plants stood at Rs 3.25 per unit.
During the quarter under consideration, NTPC generated 71.606 billion units against 71.501 billion units generated in the corresponding period of the previous year.
During the quarter, NTPC’s overall plant load factor fell 0.70 per cent. The company’s coal-based power plants reported a PLF of 79.05 per cent, 2.30 per cent lower than the 81.35 per cent PLF reported during the first quarter of the last fiscal.
The percentage utility of gas-based power plants too fell 1.92 per cent with a reported PLF of 24.39 per cent, against a 26.31 per cent PLF in the corresponding quarter of financial year 2016-2017.
The PLF for hydropower generation was 7.91 per cent higher at 65.17 per cent during first quarter of the current fiscal. Solar PLF, too, was up to 18.30 per cent, 2.14 higher than the reported PLF of the quarter during fiscal 2016-2017.
NTPC’s total coal consumption fell 1.63 per cent to 38.46 million tonnes during the first quarter of the fiscal compared to the same quarter of last fiscal. This was due to 75 per cent imported coal consumption at 0.14 million tonne and 3.06 per cent lower domestic coal consumption at 38.32 million tonnes compared to the corresponding period of the last fiscal.