NTPC Limited (NTPC) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Okay. Good morning, everybody. Thank you for joining us for this prestigious annual event of NTPC. On behalf of ICICI Securities, we would like to welcome the NTPC senior management led by Mr. Gurdeep Singh, CMD of NTPC for this event. Thank you, sir, for sparing your time. I would like to hand over the floor to Mr. Aditya Dar, EV Finance, who will give a brief introduction of the senior management followed by CMD's address and presentation by Director Finance, A.K. Gautam. Thank you, and over to you, sir.

Thank you, Rahul Modi. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. It is my proud privilege to welcome to all for our 17th Annual Analyst and Investors Meet. This is the second time we are addressing our annual meet through an online medium due to the prevailing pandemic situation. If there is 1 word we would find in almost every speech or article in recent times about the current situation, it would be the word unprecedented. However, the strength of the regulatory nature of our business model has come to play during these unprecedented times, and our business model has shown its resilience during the ongoing pandemic. NTPC has ensured the availability of its power plants would generate power around the clock and has continued to supply power during this period of lockdown and thereafter. The changing landscape on account of the pandemic made the company's [indiscernible] job even more demanding. Our company, under the visionary leadership of our CMD and Board of Directors, has shown character, maturity and resilience in dealing with the current situation. And I'm sure that we will continue to demonstrate the same going forward. With all this happening, what can we do to realize more value for our stakeholders? To discuss this today, we have with us our Board of Directors, led by Chairman and Managing Director Gurdeep Singh, who has an illustrious career spanning 3 decades in the power sector. He started his career in 1980s with NTPC and worked his way through various positions in both private and public sectors. His wide-ranging experience including all aspects of our generation business in different organizations and cross-culture environment has provided him with unique ability to deal with the intricate and complex issue of power sector. He firmly believes that the people [indiscernible] occupational health and safety, employee empowerment, capability augmentation and process optimization. He has launched a series of initiatives to sustain NTPC's growth and bring about cultural changes necessary to maintain NTPC's position as the leading global power company. His [ trust ] on minimizing environmental footprint, maximizing sustainability efforts and a focused approach of low-cost, low-emission aligns with India's ambitious target of cleaner and affordable power for all. Shri Anil Kumar Gautam, our Director Finance is a cost and management accountant and a law graduate. He joined NTPC in 1984 and has over 36 years of experience in the power sector in the area of project transaction accounting; corporate accounts; resource mobilization, both domestic and international; long-term funding investment appraisals, formulation of sector and budgets and regulatory of sales. Then we have Shri Dilip Kumar Patel, our Director of HR, who is graduate in mechanical engineering for NIT, Rourkela and has also done postgraduate diploma business management, HR and finance from MDI Gurgaon. He joined NTPC in 1986 and has an illustrious career spanning both line and HR functions. Then we have Shri Ramesh Babu V, our Director, Operations, who is the mechanical engineering graduate from NIT Srinagar and Master in Thermal Engineering from IIT Delhi. He joined NTPC in 1987 has over 33 years of experience with outstanding contribution in management of large power plants. Shri Chandan Kumar Mondol, our Director of Commercial, joined NTPC in 1984. He has vast experience and comprehensive knowledge of the power sector and has worked in both power plants and corporate functions. Shri Ujjwal Kanti Bhattacharya of Director of Projects joined NTPC in 1984 and has wide ranging experience in project construction and operation and maintenance of power plants. He was also a part of the team which was involved in the turnaround of 460-megawatt Talcher station. He has also led NTPC business development teams in both domestic and international areas. Along with our Board of Directors today, we also have Shri Mohit Bhargava, Executive Director and CEO of NTPC Renewables. He is also the Head of NVVN Limited. With that backdrop, I would request our respected CMD to begin his opening remarks and set the tone for the meeting. Thank you.

Thank you, Aditya. And good morning to each and everyone, my colleagues on the Board and all the analysts who have joined through this virtual mode. As Aditya just mentioned, I think this is the second time we are forced because of the pandemic, ongoing pandemic that we are connecting to the virtual mode. I'm sure that some of you people may be finding it more convenient to join from working from home also, which incidentally, we had started for some of our experimental [indiscernible] basis way back in 2019. But I hope that very soon, we come out of this pandemic, and we will be in a position to meet more frequently face to face. Again, as was brought out first things first, that due to corona, we all have suffered quite a lot. And we as NTPC, and I would put on record that of each and everyone at NTPC who have worked hard, who have worked tirelessly to make sure that the power supply is uninterrupted and there was -- no problem was being faced by the consumers. Although my heart goes to this -- some of the precious lives we lost during this pandemic, and I wish that in the coming days with the operation in infrastructure and the awareness and more compliance towards the COVID behavior, we will be able to scale through in case we are facing the third round of wave. But I'm sure that at NTPC, we have taken a lot of steps. We have vaccinated each and everyone who is eligible, not only our own employees and their families, but also our associates with the -- including the contract level. So with that, I'm sure that we will be in a position to keep up our generation without any problem. And not only the operations and the generation, but we had been able to maintain our other activities, including our renewable energy bids, and we have already won some of the competitive bids. We will come to that. And the importance of electricity was further emphasized by the COVID. I think the reliance on the electricity and the transition towards the energy usage from other sources of energy towards the electricity has been reemphasized, and this is quite clear, the increase in the growth what we have been observing. So we have taken all the measures to keep the generators on par to meet the grid requirement. And let me inform that the demand for power is increasing rapidly. In FY '22, till date, our growth has been 22.18% vis-a-vis the previous year. And it is the highest ever. The growth in the country's power generation is around 15%. India recently witnessed the all-time peak demand of 200 gigawatt and energy net of over 4,500 million [ units ] in a day on July 7. If there was no second wave of coronavirus, we expected that there would have been constraints in some parts of the supply, but we have overcome and we are always prepared to take care of the any constraints. We would have made sure even then the power supply would have been continuous. These numbers indicate that there is a robust growth in the power demand, and that really is the basis for the growth of our business. With the government's emphasis on In India and indigenization, it's expected that there is a possibility for the further increase in electricity demand and sustained economic growth continues to drive the electricity demand in India. Our coal stations are having sufficient coal stock at present. We are working continuously for increasing the machine availability. In fact, it is noteworthy to mention here that we have achieved 1 billion units per day generation for the first time on January 18, and recorded highest ever single day gross generation of 1,192 million units on March 19 and 990 million units stand-alone on March 20. We hope to close 1 billion units on a stand-alone in coming months. Renewable capacity addition will continue to [outperform] the forthcoming years with the limited availability of hydro and affordable storage option, thermal power plants are expected to play significant in meeting the power requirement. So availability of the coal is the power station is ensured to meet any kind of the power surge. We have also optimized the cost of generation and specifically in the ECR terms, which we have reduced by 13 paise per kilowatt hour, which has resulted in the savings of INR 5,000 crores to the distribution companies. What I would like to mention and the more details will get into when the presentation is being made by Director Finance. But I would like to mention a few things that our main focus will remain how we go towards the energy transition, and we should lead the energy transition in the country. Going forward, we would grow more and more in the renewable and associated sector than in the thermal, but that does not mean that the thermal is going to be scaled down. The energy going to be from the thermal sector will be continuously increasing at least for the next 4, 5 years. And that really indicates the utilization factor will improve. I'm sure that you will be having some concern about the recent news, what you have seen, that government has issued some guideline allowing distribution companies to exit from the PPAs of the central government generating units, which have completed [ 5 years of life.] I would like to assure you that we will find solutions, which will be either of a similar profitability or maybe more in this respect because the coal-based plants which are getting depreciated over a period of time, after 25 years, I think this should not be a kind of bigger consent to market the electricity in the case of the ever-increasing the demand of power. I would -- before giving some more performance highlights, I would also thank to each one of you for your continued support and investment in NTPC. For those who are here to invest with us, I would strongly recommend for considering as soon as possible. I would like to wish that all of you stay safe and healthy. Regarding NTPC performance and way forward, as I mentioned, DF is going to present in detail, but the few highlights I would like to mention that we had generated highest ever in the last financial year, 314 billion units, which is around 8% increase as a country generation. Bill realization, I'm sure that everybody has a concern on that, but for the lockdown in the last week of March 2020, we had been continuously, for the last 15 years, have been realizing 100%. And last financial year also, we have collected more than 100% bill them out. Actually, the entire effort of the all the commercial executives who are constantly in touch with the -- our distribution companies and the state government. And thanks to the government of India also, which wherever it is needed, they come to our help. We have added a capacity of 4,160 megawatts in FY '21. And this is including 904-megawatt capacity from renewable and hydro sources. Further 1,075 megawatt has been added in FY '22 till date, taking NTPC group installed capacity to 66,885 megawatts. NTPC's coal station has maintained a positive difference of around 2% when compared with the national, PLF. Our oldest units, Singrauli 1 and [Korba 2] have achieved over 100% PLF again and stood at top performing units in the country. Stand-alone Q1 FY '22 profit stood at INR 3,146 crores, which is an increase of 27%. Again, I think this will be dealt with by DF in detail. As you know that this is the -- we had been paying dividend continuously. This is going to [ 8th ] year, a total of 1,560 megawatts of renewable bids were won by our group in FY '21. And even in this year, in this quarter, the last quarter also, we have 325-megawatt in FY '22. And we have become the serious player in case of bidding process in the renewable sector, which probably was not considered as serious as we have demonstrated in the previous years. And going forward, this will remain the case. We have achieved 11 million tonnes of coal production in FY '21. Dulanga coal mine is declared commercial. And as we all will be just discussing, we have also started taking actions to retire some of the old units. Some time back, we had retired. Badarpur, from the 1st of April or 31st of March, we have retired 460 megawatts in [indiscernible] Talcher. We was almost 50 years old plant. And as we, as I mentioned, the main growth area will remain renewable going forward. And we have revised our target from 30 gigawatt by 2032 to 60 gigawatt by 2032. And this will take us nearly 50% our capacity from the nonfossil sources. And that is going to be a very big step towards the real contribution and leading the energy transition for the country. As you all know that we have created NTPC REL, which was introduced by Mr. Dar that Mohit is -- Mr. Mohit Bhargava, who is the CEO for NTPC REL. And he and his team is putting all efforts so that we aggressively add new capacities, And along with that, it is not only the capacity, but we start working on the related areas, whether it is going to be the storage or whether it is going to be the EV electric vehicles. We have received, as you would have seen approval from government of India for setting up 4,750 megawatt renewable energy park in Rann of Kutch, in Khavada in Gujarat. Approval has also been received from the government of Madhya Pradesh for developing of the solar plant in land acquired for a coal-based plant, we have converted that. We have already installed 1, another generative plant in Bihaur, which is up and running. Discussions are also in progress with various state governments for allocation of land parcels and water bodies. So when the water bodies are coming, this is going to be the floating solar. So we are already [indiscernible] the process of installing the floating solar as will be mentioned in detail again during the presentation. Focusing on the floating solar, will also be -- another area of our increasing the -- our market share as well as, we believe, the contribution towards the bottom line through the merchant mode. With all these, there is a clear projection of 20 gigawatt of renewable capacity to be set in next around 4 to 5 years. Efforts are owned for partnering with international investment infrastructure fund and ONGC. Mainly the ONGC is going to explore for the offshore wind because as you all know, that ONGC has the expertise in the offshore working, and their platforms are working for the oil extraction, so we believe that will be going kind of good synergy for both of us. Green hydrogen, this is going to be the one of the area of our main focus, utilization in transport, blending with natural gas, green ammonia, methanol, et cetera. We really offer the new avenues as far as the green hydrogen is concerned. We are getting out 1 pilot project in [indiscernible] where the most of the [indiscernible] is going to be approximately a little less than $3 per kg. And we will be in a position to create utilization of green hydrogen and carbon capture, which is another very, very important energy transition pay forward that we will be in a position to produce methanol, green methanol at a price of less than INR 150 per liter. I think that's what the initial figures are saying. Let's see what it comes out. I would like to mention here that carbon capture and the green hydrogen will really give us a kind of [flip] to our energy transition, but also our business going forward and realizing the dream of integrated energy company. This will also be helping us to have the circular economy and what we can create in our plants, which is helpful for the environment and also for increasing the revenue and the profitability. You will all be knowing that we have participated in the DISCOM privatization. We expect that we will be giving good competition in the [indiscernible] DISCOM. As and when these bids are being opened. We hope that this is opened very soon. E-mobility, power trading, battery energy storage system, this will be another area in case of the RE related business. The biomass and waste to energy and more importantly, waste to fuel, we are starting that project in case of [indiscernible]. I hope that in the next month or so, we'll be able to award that experimental project. But biomass, let me spend some time, and this is important for the ESG sector also. I strongly believe that the pelletization and further [indiscernible] of the biomass will go in a long way for the converting some of the coal-based energy into the biomass energy, which is also part of the renewable energy. And in the next 4 to 5 years, I believe that we will be in a position to convert a few units maybe to start with smaller units to the full 100% biomass-based firing in our boilers and -- which will be considered as a green energy, not the other kind of coal-based thermal energy. So we believe that this will also help with achieving that 60 gigawatt much faster than what we are keeping our objective. And this will also create a lot of downstream value addition and the kind of employment generation for many of the people, including the farmers and the aggregators. ESG, we -- our team is working tirelessly on reporting and communicating what efforts we are doing on the ESG. On the ESG, we -- I think if we just come on a few of these steps what we have already taken. I will just run through that. We have included a strong fixed Fair Corporate Governance affect risk management, extensive stakeholder engagement and streamlined safety measures at all of our establishments, including training and development. We are the first energy company globally to sign UN Energy contract and also the signature to the CEO Water Mandate. We have already started to lead the energy transition in country from being a fossil intensive power generator to the sustainable and integrated energy player. Making integrated annual report based on the GRI and IR framework since financial year '20 with the sustainability disclosure of entire NTPC group companies with the disclosures on the task portion climate-related financial disclosure framework as well. Our report is assured by a reported third party with a reasonable assurance, the highest level of assurance. We are timely responding to any ESG-related queries by all investors and ESG rating analysts. Separately, providing ESG data disclosure on our NTPC website is the another initiative. NTPC sustainable energy rating have improved by 1.9 marks, and we are optimistic about a level upgrade because of our recent ESG improvement activities. MSCI assessment of NTPC improved as compared to last year. NTPC covered as a case study in the CE100 plus Global Process Report 2020, regular communications will receive plus under [indiscernible] is being maintained, participated in the DJSI and CDP Sustainability Assessment each year. And we have also won CII-ITC Sustainability Award 2020, which is quite a prestigious in the country. And going forward, there will be a continuous trust, deploying technological means of reducing water and carbon footprint. I think this is for the end of the fossil-based fuel company or the mainly predominantly coal based. I think these are 2 major things. Reducing water consumption and reducing the carbon footprint. And utilizing the fly ash, which is another considered to be e-waste, but it's really, I think, can replace not only the construction material but help in the climate change also. Expediting project commissioning so that regulated equity base can be increased thereby sustained return on the shareholders. Listing of our renewable energy company and , I think these are the other 2 initiatives, which have started. And we hope that in the next 18 months, we should be able to list these companies. Digitalization for increasing the efficiency and staying ahead of the core has been started way back, and we are upgrading our system continuously. Focus on the effective asset utilization. I think this, as I mentioned, it's going to be another key area. We are looking at whether there can be some kind of revenue model, which we can generate in addition to meeting the EIS utilization. And our team is working on those things, whether it is the road construction, whether it is the kind of the lightweight aggregate and whether we can convert into the sand , I think these are some of the initiatives which are being taken. Meeting new environment norms as [indiscernible] installation of FTD at 93% of our stations are in progress, and we will be covering 100% of our plants ultimately. Few of the investors have concern regarding servicing of the investment made. Supporting other than utilities are not installing, It is pertinent to mention that [indiscernible] has already come up with the penalty for not complying. As a responsible corporate, we must comply with all the laws and rules as stipulated by the government. Ministry of Power has recommended for waiver of the GST says on the coal of environment compliant stations. This will go in a long way. Emphasis on capability building for ensuring leadership pipeline to maintain sectoral leadership with the focus area, optimizing cost of generation to remain competitive, commitment to provide reliable and affordable power, for all striving for clean energy leadership in India, focusing on increasing the generation share, working on the increased geo strategic reach and going global. We have some of our MOUs and some of the, I think, agreements which our Director of Project will be able to cover also have started our international [indiscernible] started going in that. And in this financial year, we expect that we will be able to commission our Bangladesh JV project. The outlook on the dividend, as I mentioned, this is [indiscernible] year, we will -- our dividend policy will be aimed at increasing the company's fundamental value, ensuring an annual dividend payout based on the amount of profit to be distributed among the shareholders of the company after balancing the requirement of deployment of internal accruals for its sustenance and growth plan. The company is committed to deliver sustained value to all its stakeholders. We have been consistently paying dividends as per the DIPAM guidelines, and this trend is expected to continue in future as well. In addition to that, what I would just like to mention that in case of -- We don't want to be only a regulated company. We don't want to the only and only case of the power generator. I think we will have to transform ourselves as the transition and the transformation happens in the energy sector, we will be transforming the company, and we should remain the leading energy company along with the transition and with the allied services so that we can really protect and increase the shareholders and stakeholders worth. With this, let me conclude here my initial remarks and request Director Finance to make a detailed presentation, and we will again interact after that. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, sir, and a very good morning to everybody. Please [indiscernible] the presentation. Next. NTPC will be the core to transforming India. Being a critical energy enabler, we would like to begin our discussion with sharing our vision for NTPC and how we expect to attain this vision. The nature of our business is not yet onetime kind of activity. Our investment today must be for 30 years and beyond. So we are a long-term player. And for long-term business, we can't afford to have a short-term vision. Thus, our vision propels us towards our mission to provide reliable and affordable power on a sustainable basis. Our vision is based on reality. Today, we are on the largest and most efficient power companies globally and intend to maintain this status. We are an important part of government plan for building infrastructure for power generations in India. Our vision will be actualized by our core values that call ICOMIT. These values differentiate us from our Indian and other peers, and we believe we have the capability to emerge as the world's leading company providing reliable power and related solutions in an economical efficient and environment-friendly manner which would be driven by innovation and agility. Next. In my presentation, I will start with an overview of NTPC followed by how we plan to spearhead energy transition. Being a responsible corporate citizen, various ESG initiatives taken by our company to improve the lives of the people and environment, team or an not only growth but sustainable growth with due care for people and environment, transforming power sector in India, our key growth pointers, our operational excellence and robust financials. Next. We are and would continue to power prosperity for our state sustainably. Being the largest power generators in India, we generate 23% of nation electricity with an installed capacity of 17%. We have clearly laid down growth path in the form of our corporate plan to become 130-plus gigawatt company by 2032. We are progressing well to achieve this. NTPC would be leading India's energy transition. In line with the same, we are committed to have 60 gigawatt RE capacity in 2032. We are also actively looking for business opportunities, in green hydrogen, in mobility and other related fields. FY '21, we have achieved commercial capacity addition of 3,824 megawatt, and we are maintaining consistent double-digit lead in percentage terms overall India PLF. We are presently 17 gigawatt capacity under construction. We are clearly progressing well on ESG front, and on the back of our ESG strategy with clearly defined KPIs and targets. On the back of these strengths, we can say that we are and will be exceeding expectations and setting new benchmarks. Next. Key performance highlights for FY '21 are as follows. Our stand-alone regulated equity has grown to INR 66,338 crores as at FY '21 end. We have received highest ever sales realization of more than INR 1 lakh crores in FY '21. We have posted highest ever stand-alone as well as group profit in FY '21. We have added 3,824-megawatt commercial capacity in FY '21 at the group level. We have also posted highest ever group generation of 314 billion units in FY '21. On the back of all these records, we can only say that we are all set for creating many more records as we spearhead energy transition. Next. NTPC group currently has operational projects across length and breadth of the country. Our unparalleled agents across India mitigates the risk associated with operating from limited geographical territories. We have operating stations consisting of units of different sizes in the stations under operation with our JV and subsidy partners. Most of our coal-based power plants are ideally located close to fuel sources which is again a significant stand of our business. Next. Now coming to how we plan to spearhead energy transition. Next. We aspire to become an integrated company and -- energy company by 2032 from a predominantly power-generating company at present. We want to become a supplier of choice by supply chain, green and affordable power to our beneficiaries. We plan to aggressively and add a renewable capacity to our portfolio, and we are also working towards becoming pioneer in green hydrogen technology and aim to have a significant share in hydrogen economy. We are also looking at power distribution, waste to energy, consultancy and increasing our global footprints. All of this shall act as alternative revenue streams and truly lead NTPC into becoming an integrated energy company. Next. As we move forward towards becoming an integrated energy company, we aspire to attain the same by building up on our operational and project management excellence attained over the last 4 decades by putting even more thrust on ESG by aggressively -- aggressive addition to added capacity through [indiscernible] and other organic and [inorganic] modes by exploiting existing land banks and infrastructure for power and allied industries. We are very confident that we would be able to achieve the same on the back of our robust financials and ability to raise funds at most competitive rates. Next. In with Government of India post towards renewable energy as a wholly owned subsidy, NTPC Renewable Energy Company Limited has been incorporated in FY '21. We plan to have 60 gigawatt RE capacity by 2030. We already had 1,375 megawatts of installed renewable capacity, while another 3,009 megawatts is under construction. We have owned 1,885 megawatts of [ TBCB ] contracts since FY '21. We are setting up country's largest solar part for 4.75 gigawatts in Gujarat, and we have plans to generate green hydrogen on a commercial scale from this part. Plan for development of another 10 gigawatt [ UMPP ] is in the various states. Further, we have signed an MOU with DVC for developing solar plants on their [indiscernible] land. We have also signed an MOU with ONGC for JV formation for development of offshore wind projects MOU with UT Ladakh and Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Council for green hydrogen initiative along with solar power generation. We have also floated a global tender to invite expression of interest for setting of 1,000 megawatt power of grid-scale batteries, energy solar system best at our power plants. With all these, there is a clear project pipeline of 20 gigawatt of RE capacity, and we are well on our way to attain target of 60 gigawatt RE capacity by 2030. Next. As already mentioned, we have received approval from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy to set up a 4,750-megawatt renewable energy park Rann of Kutch Gurjat, thus this will be the largest solar park in the country, and the company plans to generate green hydrogen on a commercial scale from this electricity generated by the solar park panels to be installed there. This park will be developed under the mode 8 of the ultra mega renewable energies power park scheme, where the state governments have to assist in the identification and acquisition of land and facilitate schedule clearances. We have already hit the ground running for development of this park. Next. Coming to our sustainable initiatives. Sustainability is the challenge being faced by global energy transition companies today in the face of rapidly rising consumer demand on one hand and environmental concerns on the other hand. In this scenario, NTPC sustainability strategy, tighter plan will clearly defined KPIs and targets has been brought out. We are the first energy company to declare our energy compact goals was 60 gigawatt [indiscernible] by 2032 and 10% reduction in the net energy intensity by 2032 compared to 2012 level. We have a dedicated sustainable supply chain guidance with focus on ESG, EHS assessment of suppliers and their capacity building. We are developing a mega eco park at Badarpur, which is bigger than the New York Central Park. We are in the regular dialogue with MSCI and to address controversies and sharing of our data for improvement of ESG rating. And we are confident that soon, our company will get significant ESG rating upgrade. Our constant endeavor is to reduce carbon emissions. We are committed to progress on technology front with increased efficiency and data environment protection. Next. Our sustainability strategy that is brighter plan 2032 aims to accelerate NTPC's efforts in leading the energy transition to decentralize, decarbonize and digitalize energy future on PPL bottom line, [framework] and setting new benchmarks in sustainability along with entire energy value chain. It provides a broad framework for the company's priorities to meet the challenges in 7 focus areas, private material issues, that is decarbonization, air emission control, water and biodiversity conservation, circular economy, health and safety, community development, strong finance and ethics and sustainable supply chain. The plan focuses on ensuring the sustainability of NTPC business operations through cooperating innovative and sustainable solutions for better and greener energy future, leading to profitable business growth, reduce cost and mitigating risk of doing business in [indiscernible]. This will enable NTPC in delivering a progressive business, create a greener environment and [endless] life to create share value for all. Next. With brighter plan coming into pace, our Scope 1 emission intensity and Scope 3 GHG emissions have started showing notable reduction as compared to previous year, group GSG intensity, i.e., Scope 1 emission intensity has decreased by 3.4% due to increased generation from our nonfossil sources and efficient operations of our power plants. Our Scope 3 GHG emission for FY '21 has been 5,61,135 metric tons as against 9,80,753 metric tons in the previous year, a reduction of 43%. Next. We at NTPC have unwavering commitment towards environment. In line with our environment management motto going higher on generation, lowering GSG intensity, our company is committed to comply with the new environment norms. For control of SOx, first FGD has been commissioned at [indiscernible] reduction of FGD is already under implementation at 59-gigawatt capacity, while FGD system around 4 gigawatt capacity is under country. [ Year-wise ] implementation schedule has also been chopped out to ensure smooth implementation well within the time line set by [indiscernible]. we would be having first-mover advantage FGD is already under implemented in all of our existing as well as upcoming capacity as compared to other players. We are certain that once FGD is implemented at our power plants, we will get advantage in merit order in with -- and other known compliant plants. Further, as part of our commitment to environment, we are taking a number of Blue Sky initiatives such as utilization of agro digital-based biofuels for power generation, which will not only reduce the infield crop residue one, resulting in lower air pollution but will also reduce carbon footprint of coal-based power plants. We are developing a circular economy by establishing integrated waste management facility in Delhi. We are developing waste-to-energy plant in associate with various municipal corporations. Next. We are committed to invest up to 1% of our distribution profit on R&D activities and climate [ change ] technologies. We are amongst select utilities globally to have dedicated technology development center, which we call NETRA. The focus areas of NETRA are efficient improvement and cost reduction, new and renewable energy, climate change and environment production, which will include water conservation, asset utilization and base management. NETRA also provides scientific support to NTPC stations. A research advisory council, RAC, comprising of eminent scientists and experts from India and abroad has been constituted to steer high-end research. Next. NTPC has been spending 2% of net profit towards CSR activities from FY '14, 2014/'15 onwards. Company has spent INR 419 crores on CSR activities during FY '21. The company has led the fight against COVID pandemic from the front. Company has made a contribution of INR 250 crores to fund support Government of India in its effort to fight COVID-19. Company has both [indiscernible] over 70,000 employees, their family members and associates across its operations. Further, special thrust is being given to [girl empowerment] with an objective to make the [girls] self-reliant and confident in all walks of life. NTPC has adopted 18 industrial payment institute and is setting up 8 new ones. We are also providing support to Archery Association of India for promotion of archery. NTPC CSR initiative has set the lines of around 18 lakh people in one or other way at remote locations. Next. Now let us take a look at how power sector India is transforming in India. Indian GDP is expected to grow at a fast pace in coming years, and demand for energy is expected to rise in tandem with the growth of the economy. Going forward, sustained growth of GDP will contribute tremendously to the growth of the power sector. Further, there is a huge latent demand, and our demographic strength is expected to contribute to annual incremental growth of the sector in a big way. The growth is getting reflected in energy requirement as well as peak load projections by CA. With every Indian now being access to electricity, power sector in India, certainly poised for power for all . Next. This government focus on attaining affordable 24/7 power for all. We are witnessing significant interest in the entire power sector. All key indicators in power sector are expected to grow at a CAGR of approximately 7% to 8%. With a way of new reforms in the form of revised are policy and concept of the smart prepaid metering, et cetera, as well as the capacity addition majorly through renewable resources, we expect that the sector will grow substantially in this decade. Next. Now coming to our key growth pointers. Our ability to manage growth beyond our current scale differentiate us and is one of our biggest strengths. We have operational capacity of 66,875 megawatts, and we have been able to consistently reduce our project execution time. NTPC group has presented 17 gigawatt capacity under different stages of transaction. We follow a disciplined approach in taking up the new projects and establish the availability of 5 critical items. These include land, water, environment clearances, fuel [indiscernible] before investment approval is sold from our Board of Directors. Our projects under construction are at a diverse location, which mitigates the overall [indiscernible] base is to a large extent. Next. In FY '20 marked the beginning of reversal in CWIP ratio. This reversal is expected to pick pace in next 3 years, and we expect our CWIP ratio to fall steeply. We expect to grow to continue going forward, and we believe the turnover from CWIP 2 power plant and equipment would be quicker because of greater mix of renewable capacity, having a shorter gestation period. Our stand-alone regulated equity was INR 66,338 crores as at 31st March 2021, and we expect that our regulated equity to increase at a CAGR of approximately 15% over next 3 years based on capacity already construction -- capacity already under construction, making NTPC a compelling investment pick. Next. NTPC coal mining portfolio consists of coal mines having estimated geological reserve of 5 billion tonnes and ultimate mining capacity of 71 million metric tonne per annum. Our growth path has widened with commercialization of Pakri-Barwadih mine, from 1st April 2019 and Dulanga mine from first of October 2020. Our mine has also started production. We have produced 11 million metric tonne of coal in FY '21. Amidst COVID-19 pandemic, [indiscernible] in PV mine led to fall in production. However, coal production was more than doubled in FY '21 from Dulanga coal mine. Further, we expect to commence production from our mine at Chatti Bariatu and Kerandari very soon. Next. Acquisition, diversification and adaptability would be hallmark of our section in the challenging time. NTPC is looking for acquisition of operational projects with good intrinsic value. We are actively looking for other business opportunities. Strategic blueprint, road map or industrial park at Kudgi has been finalized. We are also participating in RFP for prioritization of discounts of union territories. We are playing an important role of e-mobile team enabler by creation of public charging infrastructure. NTPC in addressing to provide hydrogen and pure electric powertrain-based green mobility solution for the public transport, which include providing hydrogen fuel cell-based electric vehicle as well as pure battery-operated eletric buses. We have also entered waste to energy [vertical]. We have incorporated a JV with EDMC for setting up integrated waste to energy plant. NTPC is also expanding its global REIT. Construction activities of the thermal power product in [indiscernible] are under progress. We are actively looking at East Asia, Middle East and Africa for business opportunities. Next. Now coming to our operational excellence. Our operational capabilities have been proven with an unmatched track record in maximizing efficiency. We have consistently maintaining 2-digit spread over national PLF. Our poll station clocked PLF of 69.7% against all India PLF of 58.5% in Q1 FY '21 -- '22. In FY -- Q1 FY '22, our group generation post growth of 26%, showing strong uptick in demand. Our operational efficiency is driven by strong systems guided by technical compliance documents, best maintenance practices, real-time monitoring systems, 100% analysis of [indiscernible], daily and monthly review systems, periodical structured technical audits and fleet-wide monitoring by our experts. Safety is an integral to our working. We have always made emphasis on safety, and we have robust operations and standard operating procedures in place. We have upscaled safety standards at our power plants and have inculcated complete culture safety first. We are consistently maintaining status of low-cost power producers. Our low variable charges -- I'm ensure high merit order and as a result, better PLF and efficiency in operations. We have an elaborate payment security mechanism in place. We continuously take up policy issues with CRC and other authorities, and we have witnessed substantial regulatory uptick in the form of new regulation for the period [ 1924 ]. There are some concerns regarding the recent government guidelines, allowing distribution companies to exit from PPAs, as mentioned by Chairman. But we are sure that with this maturity of market mechanism, urgent trend of increasing power demand, and with minimal capacity addition in this country, we can sell the surplus power in the market, which may return higher than tabulated returns. Next. We have proactively and successfully taken initiative to pursue with full security with our current and future capacity. We have signed long-term fuel supply agreements with Coal India Limited and SSCL for supply of coal for a period of 20 years for total annual contracted quantity of approximately 178 million tonnes per annum. NTPC, through its sustained policy advocacies, has signed supplementary agreement with the aggregation of ACQ, which has resulted in optimum utilization of coal, resulting in reduction in average ECR of all stations, avoidance of loss of fixed charges due to coal shortages, more efficient outages planning public stock management of our power plants. 60% of our coal-based capacity is made by MGR/belt conveyor system to our coal mines. We had total coal supply of 170 million metric ton in FY '21 and [ ACQ ] materialization of 87%. Coal supply of Q1 FY '22 stands at 46.3 million metric tons with ACQ [ materialization ] of 91%. Next. Our company has people-first approach towards employees. We believe in continuous development of our employees through objective and open performance management system. We provide comprehensive training to familiarize our employees with technological advances and up-to-date operational and management practices. Our key employee performance metrics like sales per employee, value-added per employees, profit per employees and per employees have consistently improved. NTPC continues to build laurels in various periods. NTPC is the only to [ TSU ] consistently feature in top 50 Best Companies To Work For India in annual survey carried out by, Great Place to Work Institute and Economic Times. We are proud to building a high-trust, high-performance culture. Next. Now coming to our robust financials. NTPC has been able to maintain robust margins along with sustained growth. Our gross margins are strong over 40%, while our EBITDA margins are robust at over 30%. In FY '21, we have posted highest ever profit of INR 13,770 crores, and sales realization which crossed INR 1 lakh crore mark. We have begun FY '22 on a strong note. For Q1 FY '22, the total income was INR 26,802 crores as against INR 24,021 crores in Q1 FY '21, registering an increase of 11.58%. PAT for Q1 F1 was INR 3,145.63 crores as against INR 2,470.16 crores in Q1 FY '21, registering an increase of 37.5%. We are confident that our financials are set for long-term sustainable growth. Next, please. Our consolidated financials are growing consistently. This growth is led by acquisition of value-accretive JV and subsidies. Our share of profit of joint ventures have registered a growth of 69% in FY '21. At the same time, our consolidated EBITDA has registered double-digit growth to reach INR 37,990 crores in FY '21. As we move forward, we believe this growth will be consistent. Our balance sheet is also consistently growing. In FY '21, our gross fixed asset has increased by INR 18,659 crores, while our CWIP has increased by INR 2,277 crore, thus unlocking capital for returns. This trend is expected to continue with around [ 5-gigawatt ] additions to our commercial capacity every year now on. We are raising debt at the most competitive rate from the market and our cost of debt has reduced progressively from 8.07% in FY '15 to 6.2% in FY '21. Our cost of debt has now gone below 6% and stands at 5.97% in Q1 FY '22. On the back of these strong financials, NTPC has been consistently paying dividends for the last 28 years. Further, overhang of divestment on NTPC [ scrip ] has also does not exist now with Government of India shareholding at 51.1%. If at all, asset monetization is done, shareholders will only stand to gain. We have a clear dividend policy of balancing dividend payouts with deployment of our growth plans, and we are committed to deliver sustainable value to all our stakeholders. All of the above make NTPC a compelling long-term investment. Thank you very much.

Thank you, Mr. Gautam for a detailed presentation. We will now begin with the question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] The first question is from Mohit Kumar from DAM capital.

Congratulation on decent rate numbers and charting out a new growth path for NTPC. So my first question on the renewables. The, of course, you have stated the long-term target for renewables for 60 gigawatts. But my question is, can you break up the target from medium-term something like FY '25? And the related question is, are you becoming too aggressive as a concern in the bidding? And are we looking to consolidate all our renewable investments in new vehicle? And is there any plan to list this renewable eventually in a separate company? We heard in the media that we are targeting in 18 months. Is that news correct? That's my first question.

So I think, Mohit, can you just go ahead and just give some breakup for next 2, 3 years and the trajectory, what we have planned. I think I just [indiscernible] about that we should be in a position to add around at least 10 to 15 gigawatt, which is not a problem for -- at least in the next 2 to 3 years, rather 3, 4 years because we have that land and these renewable energy parts and the floating solars. This catch, the UMPP and the UMPPs whether it is going into Rajasthan or the other states and also -- and going towards Ladakh. So this is in the near term, then there should not be any problem to go ahead at least around 2 to 3 gigawatt in next 2 to 3 years and then further ramping it up. Mohit, do you want to add on that? And then I can tell you that and even address also that whether you are aggressive or you are just a balanced person like our company.

Thank you, and good morning. Just quickly, just broad numbers, which we have probably shared during an earlier call also, also. The target is to do about 15 gigawatts in the next 3 years, that's a cumulative number, and that includes both NTPC as well as NTPC REL because there are some legacy projects, which will continue in NTPC. So that's the broad number over the next 3 years. Aggressive, I really don't know. We have been trying to participate in the bids and in line with the resource capability we have, both on the funding side as well as on the manpower side. I think we still need to move faster ahead to achieve these set of numbers. So I'll probably stop here.

I think then the person who has asked the question is also Mohit?

Yes, sir.

Yes, he's also Mohit.

So by nature of our company, we are never too aggressive. And I'm saying never too aggressive means we have to be a little aggressive, but I think our compliance, our system procedures our I think the kind of due diligence and the -- I think it has to go through the processes. Just make sure that you are not going like some of the other corporates where the individuals can take a decision. And they decide the number and then it is. So that cannot be the case in our case, which is well structured, I think, it's rigorous kind of assessment before we go. And by we've now seen that management has never been a kind of [indiscernible] Always, always see that there are healthy returns. And we have to justify those things. So I think that gives you whether it's too aggressive or not. But aggressive in the tone of the capacity. And I'm sure that this question will be going on the minds of many others. So just to clarify in the beginning itself, that there is another policy of the Government of India, which we explained last year, that we can blend this renewable energy with the coal-based energy. So if the fuel cost is higher than the renewable energy cost, we can replace that through the renewable energy, which is the best integration going forward. And no other company is in a position like ours, which can take the advantage of these kind of things and really contribute towards -- going towards the greener kind of grid. Cleaning the grid is going to be much kind of sustainable through these kind of policies. And we really are the backbone of those kind of initiatives. So as far as the capacity is concerned, there should not be, I think they should have to be more and more aggressive. As far as the returns are there, we are always careful. And we don't, we cannot undertake any of the project, which is not [indiscernible]. So let me just assure that. Whether the -- just all the renewable assets will be going to the new vehicle, may or may not be because there is always -- evaluation has to be done, there are some kind of tax implications. So we will be just on evaluating. But that should not to stop to evaluate and try to transfer the assets and then try to the companies. I think that is -- that goes without saying. So we'll have to go on working towards increasing the stakeholders value and mainly shareholders value in this case was of this [indiscernible]. Lease separate ] months? The answer is yes. I think the action is already initiated. Mohit and his team has already initiated the initial start while rolling on this count. Is there anything Mohit, not the other not Mr. Mohjit Bhargava. Mohit want have the supplementary on that. So that clarifies and most of the other things for the rest of the participants also.

Supplementary question, sir, yes I do. If you go for derailers, are you looking to consolidate all renewables investment like hydrogen like all the renewables assets which are on the stand-alone company because you [indiscernible] to have a size in if you went out on the small side...

At present, all the related business with the renewable energy are in NTPC REL. Hydrogen, the old things, I think this will remain in that. And when we are saying the integrated energy company, I think this is [indiscernible] this one of the major initiatives of [indiscernible]. You would have seen some of the advertisements to hire some of the talents to push for these initiatives. And that also you would have seen unlike than in the past, we are also trying to recruit through the fixed term and the disappointments so that we can hire the people at the right remuneration for a limited period of time.

Thank you, Mohit. We will move on to the next question. We were [indiscernible] Investec.

Sir, a couple of questions. Firstly, there was a media report that the government is planning to monetize power assets. So overall figure was around INR 7,000-odd and our assets in Koldam and certain [indiscernible] hydro assets were mentioned in those reports. Wanted to know your view on that? Is that an invite on -- in the work? So how do we intend to do that?

Yes. Okay. , I think this news when it has come from the Ministry of Power, I think you should many take it that this is the reality. I think, there is nothing specified what can be the mode. As of today, we believe that the best mode is to go for listing the company. I think this is a very, very short and concise answer, which I would like to just give to this.

Yes, a lot of clarity, sir. Secondly, also on the listing part, I think you mentioned that we are planning to list NVVN as well our trading company. So currently, most of its volume, if I'm not wrong, comes from a GMSM contracts. Sir, going ahead, how do we see this growth in this company related to being only GMSM contracts or like we will be setting up excess solar capacity also for sale in merchant market or the plant PPA lending.

Apur , again, I think, excellent question, and let me through this question address and a few more things on this. NVVN by name itself is an NTPC with [indiscernible] limited. Okay. That is the full form of NVVN when it was incorporated. And [indiscernible], is not only limited to only trading the power on the exchange or trading the power and getting that whatever it is somewhere from 2 paise to 7 paise margin. That is not only limited to that. NVVN, we will be going through the revised business plan for NVVN. We are looking at opportunities to trade including, let us say, tomorrow, it can be -- it can really be fulcrum for many of the trading activities, be it tomorrow [indiscernible], be it tomorrow, the any kind of power tomorrow, it can be even hydrogen, tomorrow can be anything. So I think the potential should be, this should be treated as a platform. And if it is starting [indiscernible], we should really explore whether this can be a platform which will be much bigger than anything and the IT and IT-enabled and the digitalization, et cetera. Let's see that how this trading platform, which is not only the power trading, but it will be much more [than that]. I think somebody needs to really mute. Probably there is some [indiscernible]. The NSM is not the only business for NVVNL. NVVNL is also they are trading on its own. And tomorrow, when the more and more market-based approach is going to go in the sector. I'm sure that they'll play a very important role into it. And I mentioned last month in some forum. We in the power sector, we should start looking beyond the discount the long-term contracts. I think that should be the really good journey. This already there is a good platform to really take off from there for the NVVNL to go not only I think the, there should be not a linear growth, but it should be then a kind of much -- it can even achieve some kind of bigger than that. So NVVNL has a much bigger potential. And as we are going to really prepare for the listing and prepare for the other related activities in addition to the power trading itself. We believe that it has excellent scope. I did mention about the biomass. I did mention about -- I think these things, either it has to be an NTPC REL or if it's a kind of trading things, it can be come to the NVVNL also. The fact of the matter is that we are at that fulcrum where we are very solid in case of the baseload operations as far as the coal-based power generating stations are concerned, and we will be almost around -- how much around 65,000, 70,000 megawatts in coal by the next 4, 5 years. And coupled with that, there will be another generally kind of renewables and other related activities, and NTPC as a trading partner, as a trading platform, as a trading and kind of competence, it should not be limited to only power. This should be generally related businesses also. Thank you.

Sir, one last question from my side. And this is regarding our 4.75 gigawatts solar park I think you mentioned that we are planning to generate green hydrogen over there. So can you please throw some light on the business model and how do we intend to go about it?

Just I think this is the initiative which we took. I think if you recall, I think 2019, August -- 1st August itself. In Bombay, I had mentioned first time about [indiscernible]. If somebody has really followed it up, just before our interaction on that the 1st of August in the morning half, I had mentioned this. And that time, nobody was believing in India that the hydrogen is going to emerge as a kind of the another energy solution in ]. it is only the last 6 months, people have started accepting this is. It is like 10 years back, nobody was accepting that the solar is going to be a major player in this. When we had commissioned in Gujarat at 1 megawatt, I think that was a big, and there was a -- many people who were having apprehension and skeptical about that this can, this is too costly, how it will be where it will be that it's only a time and a number of things, sir. And today, we are almost at that juncture that we will be talking about how it can be done. In my opinion, I think the best places like Rann of Kutch or or other places where, or the Rajasthan, we are not required to bring total power to the grid. I think there should be energy-related solutions. And if we can really convert that solar energy into green hydros and green hydros into green ammonia, I think this is going to go in a long way. So we are looking at all kind of those issues. And I think there is a lot of progress which has been made in the last 2 years. We were almost early works, and that is the reason we are the biggest kind of allottee in that big part. And I'm sure that in the next year call, you will be finding much more than details into this, So as of today, I think this is the exploratory and how the strategy is going to work. But I think the green hydrogen from the solar energy in the Kutch is very, very promising as of now. That's what I just look at. If we can bring down the cost below, let us say, $2 per kg, that will be a good milestone. And who know that maybe in the future, if you can really break $1 per kg, and that time, I think these hydrocarbons will have it's, I think, really the kind of downside, and we will become the [indiscernible] case of these energy requirements. The circular economy, as I just mentioned, carbon capture. The main emphasis, I think let me just again reemphasize. The main emphasis for the leading energy company like NTPC, what we are doing and what I have asked my team to aggressively work on is the carbon capture and green hydrogen, that is the future. And we stand a big chance into this. There is no one. Even if there is -- I think we will be looking for the technology providers. We will have a lot of energies, the other plants, almost 160 gigawatt. So these plants, how this can run at continuously at full load. And we should start looking at to run continuously near to the base load. At the same time, if there is a carbon capture tomorrow, it's, let's say, next 4 years, 5 years down the line, it becomes viable. Today, it's almost -- people are claiming that at $30 per tonne, there is a carbon capture post. Hopefully, that will also come down. And the green hydrogen cost also comes down. So we will be -- ultimately, we will become the, if, I think the chemical-related business company also and the transport as we mentioned. So it's -- whether the NTPC will become really national transport, power and chemicals. I think this is the larger vision, not only the integrated energy [indiscernible]. And [indiscernible] persons, I think as we go along, there will be really transition and believe enough that we will play very, very material in energy transition. Okay. [indiscernible], through this question, I try to address and the other related question so that [indiscernible]

The next question is from Subhadip Mitra from JM Financials.

Sir, you did mention earlier that you have a target of about 15 gigawatts of renewables next 3 years, and I understand close to about 4.75 gigawatts of that might come through the solar park. So any clarity on the rest of the 10 gigawatt, are you looking at that coming through a mix of additional solar parks? Or would that come through the blending of solar through existing thermal PPAs where the fuel cost is on the higher side? Could you please throw some light?

Go ahead, Mohit.

Yes, Subhadip, part of that will come to [Khavada ] park. But probably you also need to keep in mind that a lot of bids are also happening along the way. And for example, this year on right now, about 11.5 gigawatt worth of mine in the market. And it's our sense that every year, we'll be having about 15 to 20 gigawatt worth of bids, including solar, wind, hybrid and also maybe around-the-clock kind of thing. So we'll factor in those also. The [Khavada ] park will be contributing part of that because it's a 5-year plan at the [Khavada ] park, but we're also looking, for example, it was mentioned that the [indiscernible], which is about 550 megawatts, that's also been cleared by MP and also looking at other locations also. So this will mix of both. And yes, on the exploration side, I just wanted to add to what CMD said. In fact, we have started the flexibilization program with the first 10-megawatt project which has been commissioned [indiscernible]. So that's already rolled -- that's already been rolled out, and it is already replacing bar from which is . So going forward, this will also add to the overall city.

And this is a floating solar.

That's the largest floating solar capacity, which is commissioned in the [country].

I understand. And would you also have any rough plans that you can share in terms of the incremental blending of solar that you can do with the existing plants? I mean, my rough math tells me that there could be in excess of 15 gigawatt of NTPC plants where maybe the fuel cost is more than 2.5%. So how large can this opportunity be and over what period of time?

Okay. Subhadip?

Yes, sir. Okay.

Subhadip, you can just take it are the retail rate and the coal prices are unlikely to domestic coal prices are unlikely to come down. I cannot just take it with the certainty, but it's very unlikely that this will come. And going forward, if solar prices have to come down. So today, I think what we are looking at is any kind of an price, which is around INR 2.35 you can always easily plan , INR 2.40, INR 2.35. Tomorrow, it may come down below INR 2 in case of solar. But at the same time, those plants which are having INR 1.50 may still be star slightly going [ INR 2,] I think the -- as of today, we are very, the rough estimates say that we can go up to almost 15,000 to 20,000 megawatts. But after 3, 4 years, you may start finding it that it can become 30,000 megawatts. So the another thing what we are looking at is that we can even go with the plants without looking for the PPAs, long-term PPAs. Without looking for the long-term PPA, we can start looking at this. At some stage, I think we will, as I just mentioned, at some stage, we will have to start looking at beyond long-term PPAs with the distribution companies. I'm just hammering that point. So it's going to be the real transition not only decarbonization, but the real transition is there.

Understood. So you're referring to something like a merchant solar capacity, if I'm correct?

I'm not saying. I'm saying that anything, whether it's merchant, whether it is replacement, whether it is C&I, whether it is long-term contracts with C&I, I think we should be open up -- open to these ideas.

Understood. Understood.

And I think that remains our long-term power purchase agreements with the distribution company remains, and there is a flexibility, which has been provided by government of India. And as I just mentioned, there is no company other than NTPC which can really leverage this opportunity.

Correct. So sir, would you be seeing transmission being a bottleneck right now to actually be able to capitalize on the 50, 20 gigawatt capacity that as of date, itself, can be [ blended ].

No. I think as long as I think the power plant has, IHS is free until 2023.

'25, June '25.

'25 now. So connected with the CTU , it does not matter that the plant is.

Understood. Sir, last question on my side would be with regard to this current procedure where we've seen some small deals that actually canceling some of the older plants where maybe the tariffs on the higher side. In your opinion, would you be seeing a few more such discounts coming up for cancellation? Or you don't think so?

See, I don't know whether it's a cancellation, number one. Number two is most of the, I think, appreciated plant. And with the increase in the demand for electricity demand, when our energy is going to be, and I think today in the country, we are having 18% electricity utilization issue. And it's likely that going forward, it will become next 5 years, it should become around 30%. So there's more and more demand for the power. My assessment as of now is that all the plants, whichever is going to be environmentally compliant. We'll have an excellent utilization of over 80% or something like that. We should not be depreciated plant, there should not be much concern. In fact, I didn't want to say that, but let me, I think, try to just explain. [indiscernible] plant, There are takers for that power. So probably, this can really -- they can approach the government of India that can be allocated to that. But in case, let us say then there is some plant which is the coal-based plant, which is left out with us after 25 years there is no concern as far as I think there will be a kind of big generative in any way, we don't want to only earn our bottom line through the contracts by not supplying the power. I don't think, [indiscernible], that should be the intent of any of the good corporate. So we are very grounded and as far as the coal-based power plants are concerned.

The next question is from Akhilesh Bhandari from ICICI Prudential Mutual Fund.

My first question is on renewables. So NTPC's project wins so far have come in the solar segment. But going forward, the expectation is that a large chunk of the auctions will come from hybrid peaking power and RTC type bids. So if you can throw some light on NTPC's preparedness for the same, it will be really helpful.

Mohit, I think if you want to take up this question, but this really goes to some time back what I said. There was a question related with NVVNL, the trading power -- the trading company for us. So we are there for any kind of, I think, blending and kind of -- making sure that the 24/7 power is supplied. And that will go in a long way for the kind of creating market in the country for the power. And again, being the largest player, and looking for some of the PPA free power plants. So we'll see that whatever it comes. I think let Mohit and reflect something on that, but I can mention we are prepared to take care of anything with -- till now you have not raised the question on MBD also, I think we can address that also. But Mohit, you can just take that first and then we will...

Yes. I'll just try to assuage the point raised by this here. We have already participated in the upcoming bid for hybrid tenders. So let's see how it works out. And we are quite keen to take care of that portion also, whether that's hybrid or its RTC or it is storage. So all of those are on our table, on our plate, and we'll try to see how best we can participate in that as well.

Sir, you mentioned that NTPC won't solely have to rely on the distribution companies to supply power. Now specifically, in renewable, it would be helpful if you can talk on how you see the open access market growing and any regulatory or policy changes, which will be required to fully realize the growth potential on the open access renewable market plan.

Akhilesh, I think the main fundamental thing is the demand. Okay. Once the demand is picking up like what we are seeing, then all related issues will get resolved. And open access is also getting kind of resolved. We are -- we have recently come out with expression of interest for those people who want to have power from us on a long-term basis. And that is not only [indiscernible] the kind of [indiscernible]. Today, I think the scheduling is from the point to point. Tomorrow, this may also get challenged. And tomorrow, it may be changed. Today, it's not big. But what we have -- what I want to just explain to you is that as the issues come and we remain engaged with the Ministry and the regulator officers, I'm sure that with the kind of deliberations and persuasions and explanation, then there is the [indiscernible] base of the merit, we should be in position to really find out the solutions which are good for the consumer and good for us. So it should not be just -- as just mentioned some time back, when 1 megawatt was commissioned in 10 years back, only decade back, that was something apprehension [indiscernible] going through most of the people's mind. Today, I think the solar nobody is questioning.

Got it. Sir, and lastly, a bookkeeping...

Just give me -- Mondol, you want to add anything to that question, please feel free. If any of the question -- any if you want to...

Actually, in fact, we have invited an expression of interest whether it is from distributor company or maybe large utilities like that is [indiscernible] or maybe MEAs that [indiscernible] services. So we'll be -- we have just wanted that how much demand, how much power they require. And based on their requirement and we can also plug it to the -- with our power -- surplus power, whatever is available or whatever maybe some of it is [indiscernible] may wish to surrender after the government guideline. And we can mix it with renewable and then supply directly to these utilities as well as discount. So we are waiting. We are waiting for these response. When this come, then based on that, we'll take a call.

See, nobody has raised the question till now in the last 1 or 2 years about the captive power plants. Going forward, I don't think there will be people who will like to have the captive power plant in their own premises. As the grid is becoming more and more robust, which as it has become, I think there will be more and more then flexibility, and there will be more transfer of power will start and flowing, which is already -- it has increased in the last couple of years. So there will be a lot of customers.

Got it. Sir, also lastly, on the receivable level at the end of Q1 FY '22 versus Q4 FY '21.

Mr. Mondol, would you like?