Increased generation, realisation improve sales of power companies

The findings were made in a study titled 'India's Leading Infrastructure Companies 2014' made by Dun & Bradstreet India

Increase in power generation and better realisation by the power companies has helped them improve their balance sheets, with sales increasing by 10.6% in FY14, over and above a 9.9% growth in the preceding year.

According to a study conducted by Dun & Bradstreet India for its publication ‘India’s Leading Infrastructure Companies 2014’, based on 18 companies in the power sector with a standalone income of more than Rs 100 crore during FY14, the rise in sales can be attributed to a combination of higher realisations and higher power generation.

“During the first half of the year, some of the large companies performed poorly on the revenue front due to a decline in power generation, which in turn can be attributed to an array of reasons like low off-take by state distribution utilities, coal shortage at certain plants, and planned maintenance shutdowns at certain units,” said the report.

In the second half of FY14, however, the sector was able to bounce back due to double-digit growth in sales by most companies. The report also highlighted the fact that after FY11, opening up of inter-state power transmission for private sector has proved beneficial for the sector.

The report mentions that in the past five years, electricity generation capacity has consistently increased by more than 7%, with 11-15% increase having been recorded in FY12 and FY13. India has also been able to bridge the demand-supply gap in electricity. In FY05, the energy deficit stood at 7.3%, which was pared to 4.2% by FY14.