Essar Power Gujarat pops the champagne on 33% earnings jump to USD45.1m

Generation jumped 14% to almost 3m units.

Essar Power Gujarat Ltd (EPGL), a subsidiary of Essar Power Ltd (EPL), and the owner and operator of a 1,200 MW imported coal-fired thermal power plant at Salaya in Gujarat’s Devbhumi Dwarka district, has recorded a 33% growth in EBITDA in the half year ending 30 September 2016 over the previous fiscal. The EBIDTA for the first of the current financial year stood at Rs. 300 (USD45.1m) crore compared with Rs. 226 (USD33m) crore in the same period last year. The revenues grew by 12% to Rs 951 (USD153m) crore in H1 FY17 from Rs 851 (USD120m) crore in H1 FY16.

The strong financial performance can be attributed to robust improvement in all operational parameters, like plant availability, which grew by 14%, as well as generation, which also grew by 14% to 2,953 million units as against 2,595 million units in the corresponding period last year. Input costs, on the other hand, were lower. The coal cost, for instance, came down by 9% to Rs 1.95/kWh from Rs 2.13/kWh.

According to Mr Ramesh Kumar, Managing Director, EPGL: “While we registered a remarkable performance in the first quarter, our strong showing in the half year is a clear indication that we will close FY17 on a high. We have been working diligently on improving our operational parameters. Migration from a single-origin coal basket to a multi-origin one through inviting bids from global coal suppliers on our indigenously developed reverse e-auction platform has helped us better our margins. The upcoming sea water intake system and coal conveyor corridor will further enhance our margins once they are commissioned.”