NTPC?s net profit declined 16% in the first quarter of the current financial year mainly because of factors like lower ?other income? and higher interest burden. The company’s stock price fell 0.17% on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) after the company announced quarterly results.

The central utility?s net profit in the quarter under review stood at Rs 1,841 crore as compared with Rs 2,193 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

NTPC reported profit before tax (PBT) of Rs2,353 crore in the quarter as against Rs 2,894 crore in the same quarter of the previous year.

During the same period, the company’s total income increased 5% to Rs 13,529 crore. The company’s earnings per share was Rs 2.33 compared with Rs 2.66 in the same period of the past year.

The company has cash reserve of Rs 54,191 crore as on March 31, 2010. NTPC recently commissioned the second 490 mw unit of the Dadri expansion power project, taking its installed capacity to 31,704 mw. About 90% power from the plant will be supplied to Delhi. NTPC is in a strategic position to benefit from the ambitious capacity addition envisaged by the government. The company has planned adding 75,000 mw capacity by March 2017 to benefit from the government’s capacity addition plan.

The company recently announced plan to set a 1,320 mw supercritical power plant in Gujarat to meet the fast-growing demand of the state.

The company is undertaking captive coal mining to improve fuel supply to its power plants. Meanwhile, it has also taken initiatives to ensure fuel security for its power plants by acquiring coal supplies abroad in partnership with Coal India Ltd.

The company has also acquired participating interest in five oil and gas acreages in India. The company has also drawn up plans to tap renewable energy sources like hydro, wind and solar as part of it plan to reduce carbon footprint. It has also signed a joint venture agreement with Nuclear Power Corporation to set up nuclear power projects.

However, the company is lagging behind its 11 th plan capacity target. The company had envisaged adding 17,000 mw capacity.