Essar Power Gujarat Sep quarter loss narrows to Rs 89 cr

Essar Power Gujarat today reported narrowing of its September quarter net loss to Rs 89 crore from Rs 169 crore in the same period a year ago.
Loss was lower despite a 8 per cent drop in revenue to Rs 455 crore in the July-September period, the company said in a statement here.
Pre-tax profit was up 121 per cent to Rs 137 crore while plant performance improved with availability rising by 3 per cent to 86 per cent.
The company, which owns and operates the 1,200 MW imported coal fired power plant in Devbhumi Dwarka in Gujarat, reported a 13 per cent rise in realisation to Rs 3.68 per unit from Rs 3 a unit in second quarter of 2014-15 fiscal.

This was possible due to lower raw material (coal) prices slumping 20 per cent.
"The China-built boiler, turbine and generator, coupled with safe and efficient operations and maintenance practices, ensured consistent delivery of power to grid as per requirement," the statement said.

During the quarter, lenders sanctioned and implemented the 5/25 Scheme for the existing debt of Rs 3,300 crore, which has aligned debt repayment tenure with the life of the asset, it said.
Ramesh Kumar Managing Director Essar Power Gujarat said: "We had robust performance due to fall in raw material cost and improved operational efficiencies leading to improvement in financial parameters. The completion of the ongoing debottlenecking projects in the current financial year is expected to add about Rs 150 crores annually to the EBIDTA from next financial year."

Essar Power owns power plants in India and Canada with a total generation capacity of 6,100 MW. Of this 4,675 MW is commissioned and 225 MW is in advanced stage of commissioning.