National Aluminium Company (Nalco) has stopped drawing costlier power from the Odisha grid and decided to rely on captive power. The company has decided to take this initiative in order to reduce the cost of power purchased, since it affected profitability in the second quarter ended September 30.
The company has posted a fall of 96.57% in its net profit at Rs 4.78 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 as compared to Rs 139.34 crore for the same quarter in the previous year. However, total income has increased marginally by 0.14% at Rs 1747.42 crore for quarter under review as compared to Rs 1744.91 crore for the quarter ended September 30, 2011.
The company’s profit during the second quarter lowered considerably on the back of increase in power and fuel cost by about Rs 108 crore and lower sales volume of alumina by Rs 101 crore arising out of lower production. Further, the lower output was due to non-availability of adequate power. The company spent Rs 7.15 a unit for power purchased from the grid against the captive unit cost of Rs 3.20.
