After four failed reform drives, a new plan aims to rescue India's debt-laden power discoms through privatisation, accountability and long-term financial fixes.
As Mumbai's real estate and electric vehicle penetration grows, two of the city's private power distribution companies, Adani Electricity and Tata Power, are eyeing a bigger business pie, particularly betting on high-value customers. Adani Electricity Mumbai (AEML), the subsidiary which houses Adani Energy Solutions' Mumbai distribution business, recorded a six per cent growth in total units sold in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), the company's presentation shows. This gain came at over 13 per cent growth in the year-ago period.
The financial bids will be opened on Wednesday along with the technical bids for Bareilly. Torrent had quoted highest rates at Rs 2.17 per unit, followed by JUSCO at Rs 2.16 per unit for Kanpur.
In a setback to Tata Power, the Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the company's challenge to the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission's (MERC's) decision to award a Rs 7,000-crore transmission project near Mumbai on a nomination basis to Adani Electricity. The court upheld the order by the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL) in this case and directed all State Electricity Regulatory Commissions to frame guidelines on tariff determination in accordance with Section 61 of the Electricity Act and the national policy. The verdict has implications for the Mumbai power market, said Ashok Pendse, an energy expert based in the city.
Delhi's peak power demand reached an all-time high of 8,302 MW on Wednesday afternoon as the city logged its highest-ever temperature of 52.3 degrees Celsius at the Mungeshpur weather station.
Tata Power declared encouraging results for the April-June quarter (Q1) of the 2023-23 financial year (FY24). The firm's revenue rose 5 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 15,210 crore. It was driven by higher sales to distribution companies (discoms) and capacity addition in renewables. Company's adjusted profit after tax (PAT) rose 3 per cent to Rs 906 crore with reported PAT at Rs 1,100 crore on a one-time gain of Rs 235 crore.
Power distribution company officials said several areas, largely in central and east Delhi, were affected due to the failure. Some areas in north Delhi also faced outages.
Maharashtra Cabinet undecided over providing subsidy to private utilities.
Drug major Cipla on Tuesday said it has launched drone-powered deliveries of critical medicines - cardiac, respiratory and other essential chronic therapies - to hospitals and pharmacies across Himachal Pradesh in partnership with Skype Air Mobility, a Gurugram-based drone delivery company. Cipla is the first among large Indian pharmaceutical companies to adopt drone-based deliveries to facilitate expedited supply to stockists in remote areas, it claimed. The Mumbai-based firm said the use of drones will support the on-time delivery of its medicines to chemists and clinics in remote areas, and minimise risks of affecting cold chain products due to temperature excursions.
Earlier in February, Reliance Energy had announced that it would establish a mega project at Dadri, near Delhi.
Higher power tariff would have fetched Tata's Mundra UMPP Rs 25,000 crore (Rs 250 billion) and Adani's project an additional Rs 18,500 crore (Rs 185 billion)
In a year when the country produced record coal, rains hit movement of the fuel from mines to power generation units, impacting power generation in many states, including Gujarat, Punjab, Rajasthan, Delhi and Tamil Nadu.
As temperatures soar across the country, amid searing heat wave, analysts see power demand hitting fresh record highs this year. The time, therefore, may be opportune to add related stocks on dips as higher demand boosts earnings visibility, they said. On April 18, India's electricity demand touched a new high of 216 gigawatts.
As the Centre pushes reforms in the power sector, especially for the beleaguered electricity distribution segment, several states, especially those ruled by Opposition parties, are clamouring against it. Maharashtra, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Kerela have voiced their reservations against the proposed amendments to the Electricity Act, 2003. The irony is the states opposing the amendments on the ground of threat of privatisation already have private partnerships in power supply. The proposed Bill was slated to be placed on the floor of Parliament in the Monsoon session. But it still awaits Cabinet approval amid several states complaining that they have been not consulted on the issue.
The headline for corporate profit growth has been very encouraging in the July-September quarter (Q2) of 2023-24 (FY24), with the combined net profit of listed companies up by 38 per cent year-on-year. However, the earnings distribution has been very lopsided, with most of the growth coming from public-sector oil-marketing companies (OMCs), banks, non-bank lenders, automobile (auto) companies, and cement producers. By comparison, companies from information technology services, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), retail, and consumer durables were disappointed, experiencing a sharp slowdown in net sales growth and a relatively muted increase in reported net profit.
In the domestic market, the Tata Group has lost ground in the passenger car business.
Rates to go up as Delhi power regulator works out plan to liquidate past dues.
Never before has the need for creating an ambience for economic policy reforms been as critical as it is now, points out A K Bhattacharya.
LIC, EPFO and PSBs are likely to be asked to subscribe to bonds.
Dikshit has to allow the huge tariff hike, or subsidise BYPL. There is no other choice.
The private discoms that join the scheme would only benefit in terms of operational efficiency and there will not be any financial bailout
The commercial capital of India, which enjoys 24x7 power unlike any other cities of the country, is likely to suffer power cuts this summer owing to a dispute between the power distribution utilities Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport and Reliance Energy Ltd over who should foot the bill for 300 Mw of power which is required to be bought to keep Mumbai free from power cuts.
Foreign investment firms, especially private equity, are jittery about the Indian market as uncertainty continues to shroud the energy sector.
The company wants to amend it's application against the part to make the case stronger.
Northern and western states had the highest power demand, with Uttar Pradesh sourcing 19,082 Mw, Delhi 6,029 Mw, Rajasthan 10,395 Mw, Gujarat 16,825 Mw, and Maharashtra 23,609 Mw.
While consumers will be paying a higher upfront cost for smart metering, the share in the efficiency gains could more than offset this higher spend
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday gave deadline of one week to them to address the problem of outages saying government will not hesitate to cancel their licenses if they fail to comply with the directive.
Of the 23 Indian billionaires mentioned in the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, only one saw a reduction in net worth, with the companies owned by most of them outperforming the Nifty 50 index by a big margin.
Rejecting the contention of private power distributors, the Delhi government on Wednesday ordered an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of their finances, fulfilling yet another election promise of the Aam Aadmi Party.
Despite their promised and announced reduction in power prices, the Arvind Kejriwal-led Delhi government may want keep the issue on the burner for sometime longer, since none of the concerned players are ready to give an inch, and seem raring for a fight, says Upasna Pandey
Santosh Kamath, partner (infrastructure and government services), KPMG in India, expects an extension of a tax holiday for the sector.
Under political fire and ecologists' ire, the group hires Suhel Seth, who will work closely with the promoters and the social media, corporate communications and external public relations team.
Investors sought to book profits at attractive valuations after recent run up in last few trading sessions.
The government has initiated a process to define standards and guidelines for electric charging stations.
Lt Governor says discoms must cooperate or face cancellation of licences. Ficci cries interference.
Committee set up by state govt considering reduction in rates
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