New electricity law to bring efficiency

Dr. Rajib K Mishra, Director, PTC India Ltd.

The government has announced four major schemes namely DDUGJY for rural electrification, UDAY for financial re-engineering of state discoms, 24×7 power supplies by 2019 and Saubhagya scheme for last mile connectivity for household electrification. All these four schemes are ambitious and targeted to be achieved in next 18-24 months.

The most radical initiative which is expected to be tabled in next winter session would be separation of carriage and content under the amendment of Electricity Act 2003, notes Dr. Rajib K Mishra, Director, PTC India Ltd. He adds, “This amendment would enable not only competition at the retail level and choice of customers for suppliers but also bring efficiency at the most crucial level that is distribution. It is expected to change the Indian power market in a big way.”

De-stress the thermal projects
Pointing out the major changes observed during the past one year as far as improving the health of the industry is concerned Dr. Mishra says, “The government has taken several bold initiatives for clean energy and capacity addition of renewable 175 GW energy by 2020. However, the important initiative is to de-stress the thermal projects which are recently commissioned but have no coal linkage and PPAs. This initiative will not only unlock the capacity which is underutilised but would also de-stress the banks and financial institutions.”

PTC’s performance during the past year
PTC India has performed well not only in terms of increase in volume but also the profitability, informs Dr. Mishra. Operating profit of the company grew at a CAGR of 20 per cent in the last five years and the PAT of the company grew at the rate of CAGR of 18 per cent. “We have taken initiative to have first inter-state sale of wind energy through 1,050 MW MNRE scheme,” he says.