By IANS,
Kolkata : City-based power utility CESC, the flagship company of the diversified RPG group, posted a net profit of Rs.102 crore (Rs.1.02 billion/$22 million) for the quarter ended Dec 31, compared to Rs.98 crore in the same period a year ago.
“During the quarter, sales registered a growth of 6 percent over that of the corresponding quarter in the previous year,” company vice chairman Sanjiv Goenka said here Friday.
“In order to ensure the sales growth, additional offtake of power became necessary, which coupled with price increase, resulted in higher power purchase cost,” Goenka told reporters while announcing the company’s quarterly financial results.
CESC now plans to invest Rs.30-35,000 crore by the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2012-17), he said.
“This investment will be mostly through internal accruals, equity and debt. Bulk of the investment will go into thermal power generation (5,000 MW) and hydel power generation (1,000 MW).”
CESC is the sole power distributor in 567 square kilometres in the city and adjoining Howrah, and owns and operates four thermal power plants generating 975 MW.
Goenka said the company’s generation capacity would increase by the end of the 12th Plan by another 6,750 MW. “Our Budge Budge III unit (1,250 MW) will get commissioned soon. We will also add 5,000 MW thermal and 1,000 hydel power capacity in six years.”
The company has also bagged a 140 MW hydel project in Himachal Pradesh. “We are looking at more such contracts in Himachal and northeastern states,” Goenka said.
Additionally, CESC had acquired a little more than 50 percent in Dhariwal Infrastructure last year to set up a 600 MW thermal power generating station at Chandrapur in Maharashtra.
“We are in talks with two Chinese companies for equipment supply contract for the project,” Goenka said.
Among other plans, he said CESC was looking at coal blocks in Indonesia, Australia and Mozambique.