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NTPC profit up 4.5% in Q1 on higher output

State-owned NTPC Ltd on Monday said net profit in the April-June (Q1) quarter rose 4.5% from a year ago to Rs.2,370 crore, due to higher generation and better capacity utilization.Gross sales during the period jumped 11% to Rs.18,940 crore. It produced 64.5 billion units of electricity during the quarter, nearly 10% more than a year ago.

Output growth comes in the wake of better demand from state-owned power distribution companies (discoms) which are implementing a rigorous turnaround scheme under a state-backed bailout.A reduction in the average tariff of power sold during Q1 to Rs.3.12 a unit from Rs.3.18 a year ago also helped boost power demand from state discoms.

The government had on 4 May liberalized the way coal is supplied to central, state and independent power producers so that power firms have the liberty to use the fuel at their most efficient plants and generate electricity at the lowest cost possible. That is a departure from the earlier practice of government allocating coal to specific power plants.Profit from operations before other income, finance costs and exceptional items stood at Rs.3,815 crore in the June quarter, up 62% from a year ago.