NTPC PAT Drops 70% to Rs 1,524 Cr in Q4 on Higher Tax Provisioning

State-run power giant NTPC has reported a drop of more than 70 per cent in its consolidated net profit after tax (PAT) at Rs 1,523.77 crore during the January-March quarter mainly on account of higher tax provision under the ‘Vivad Se Vishwas’ scheme.

The consolidated PAT of the company stood at Rs 5,161.39 crore during the corresponding quarter a year ago, the company said.

However, its total income grew to Rs 31,315.32 crore in the period under review, against Rs 25,426.13 crore in the same period the previous year.

The company said in a statement that it made “provision for current tax for 2019-20 which includes Rs 2,743.64 crore being tax related to earlier years. This includes additional tax provision amounting to Rs 2,723.57 crore, as some of the group companies have decided to settle pending income tax disputes by opting under the ‘Vivad se Vishwas’ Scheme notified by the government through ‘The Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Act, 2020’.

“The group companies are in the process of completion of procedural formalities under the scheme and settlement of pending balances will be carried out on completion of such formalities,” it added.

For the full FY 2019-20, the consolidated net profit of the company slipped to Rs 11,901.98 crore, against Rs 14,034.49 crore in FY 2018-19.

However, its total income during the year under review grew to Rs 1,12,372.58 crore, as compared to Rs 1,02,533.05 crore in 2018-19.

Also, the company’s board has recommended a final dividend of Rs 2.65 per equity share for FY 2019-20, subject to shareholders’ approval during the ensuing AGM. This is in addition to the interim dividend of Rs 0.50 per equity share for FY 2019-20 paid in March 2020.

Moreover, the gross power generation of NTPC is 68.27 BU during March quarter down from 69.18 BU during the same quarter last year. The gross power generation in 2019-20 declined to 259.61 BU, against 274.45 BU in 2018-19.

Recently, the company has secured another Project Management Consultancy (PMC) contract for the development of 500 MW solar park in the Republic of Mali under the ISA initiative. This is the second project where a central PSU under Ministry of Power, NTPC, bagged a win from overseas. Earlier the Republic of Togo engaged NTPC for similar PMC support for the development of 285 MW solar park in Togo.