Power stocks gain on hopes of CCEA nod for gas price pooling

Shares of power companies such as Adani Power, NTPC, GAIL among others gained in an otherwise weak Mumbai markets on hopes of government’s subsidy to kick-start stalled projects.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)  is likely to take up on Thursday regarding the power ministry’s proposal for pooling the price of imported LNG with domestic gas to make investments worth Rs 40,000 crore viable.

The power ministry has asked Rs 24,239 crore from the government as subsidy for reviving gas-based power plants of 24,000 Megawatt (Mw) capacity stranded for want of fuel.

Under the proposal, the ministry is seeking additional 1.1 million metric standard cubic meter per day (mmscmd) of gas in the current fiscal, after meeting the fertilizer sector’s demand, for firing 5,400 Mw projects dependent on KG-D6 block and 1,300 Mw newly commissioned projects.

At 11AM, Adani Power was up 3%, Lanco Infratech  added 2.7%, Torrent Power  rose 2.5%, NHPC gained 2.3%, Reliance Power and Tata Power were up between 3-4%, while NTPC gained 1.5%.

S&P BSE Sensex wad down 0.4% to 19,918 .