DVC moves toward a turnaround

State-run Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) is hopeful of a turnaround from a financial mess as both its performance and revenue collection have improved, officials said today.
DVC Chairman Andrew W K Langstieh said the performance is improving and the company is moving toward a resolution for a one-time settlement of dues with Jharkhand, which owes most of its dues.
The PSU had reported a loss of Rs 1,050 crore in 2014-15 financial year. Also, total arrears were in the range of Rs 8,000 crore, DVC officials said. The Corporation has a debt of about Rs 30,000 crore and an annual interest burden of close to Rs 1,200 crore.

"We had highest ever generation of 4504 MW in May. We had highest revenue collection of Rs 1300 crore in June. Jharkhand is also not only paying the current dues but also meeting partial past obligations," the DVC chairman said during a media interaction almost a year after he took charge.
"Given the trend in the current fiscal (2015-16), we hope to come out of the red," DVC officials said.
Langstieh said DVC was seeking restructuring of its debt under the new guidelines of Reserve Bank of India and a scheme is under progress.

"We aim to bring down the annual interest burden by about 25 per cent from current levels. We are working on a plan. It could be spreading the loan period to the life of the power plants or any other available options," he said.

Speaking about Jharkhand, Langstieh said DVC was holding meeting for a one-time settlement of Rs 4300 crore dues accumulated till March 2013 and negotitions are being held to arrive at the final amount.
The scheme of arrangement would require the Centre's nod.
The idle capacity of 1500 MW due to lack of power purchase agreement and other reasons would reduce by 700 MW as it will export it to south India. DVC has a total capacity of 6,357 MW.