PSUs On A Growth Trajectory Mirroring Indias Growing Economy

Indian economy is the fastest growing economy in the world and promises to continue its dominance in CY18 as well. Various sectors have contributed to the growth story of India. The Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSE) have contributed lion’s share to the overall growth story of India in FY17. The CPSEs have cwontributed to economic growth through their contribution in Infrastructure development and balancing regional development. The CPSEs have not only contributed economically, but also socially, by playing a key role in discharging social obligations such as promoting education, skill development of youth, providing healthcare, etc. 

Many of the 257 operating CPSEs are some of the leading companies in India. The CPSEs are diversified across five sectors and 21 cognate groups fulfilling the various macro-economic objectives. The CPSEs deal with various new technologies, markets and services and are also a significant source of employment, with workforce strength of 11.31 lakh (as on March 31,.2017). 

CPSEs hold dominant market position in critical sectors such as petroleum, power, steel, mining and transportation. In FY17 , the overall performance of CPSEs in India has shown impressive performance. The overall net profit of the 257 operating CPSEs grew by 11.70 per cent to Rs 1.27 lakh crore in 2016-17. The CPSEs have made significant contribution to the Central government through payment of dividend, interest, corporate taxes, excise duty, etc. The contribution increased by 39.78 per cent in 2016-17 to Rs 3.85 lakh crore. 

''The public sector enterprises were set up to serve the broad macro-economic objectives of higher economic growth, self-sufficiency in production of goods and services, long-term equilibrium in balance of payments and low and stable prices, besides meeting certain socio-economic obligations.''

''While there were only five CPSEs with a total investment of Rs 29 crore at the time of the first Five-Year Plan , there were 331 CPSEs with a total investment of Rs 12,50,373 crore as on March 31, 2017.''

Sector-wise performance 

It is observed that the return of net worth (RoNW) is highest in the mining & exploration sector (15.53 per cent), followed by manufacturing, processing & generation (13.53 per cent), services (5.27 per cenIt is observed that the return of net worth(RoNW) is highest in the mining &exploration sector (15.53 per cent),followed by manufacturing, processing & generation (13.53 pert). Agriculture sector has shown RoNW of negative 11.82 per cent. Overall, the RoNW of all the CPSEs is 11.52 per cent during the year 2016-17. The return on equity (RoE) is also highest in the mining & exploration sector (14.01 per cent) followed by manufacturing, processing & generation (13.44 per cent), services (5.26 per cent), whereas agriculture has shown RoE of negative 11.82 per cent. Overall, the RoE of all the CPSEs taken together is 11.14 per cent during the year 2016-17. 

The return on assets (RoA) for the mining & exploration sector stood at 7.99 per cent, followed by manufacturing, processing and generation (4.73 per cent), services (1.20). The agriculture sector has shown RoA of negative 2.08 per cent. The overall RoA of all the CPSEs taken together is 3.74 per cent during the year 2016-17. 

The net profit margin (NPM) stood highest in the mining & exploration sector (20.50%), followed by manufacturing, processing & generation (5.47 per cent), services (3.99 per cent) whereas the agriculture sector has a NPM of negative 3.08 per cent. Overall, the NPM stood at 7 per cent during the year 2016-17. 

Conclusion :- The gross turnover of the CPSEs increased by 6.54 per cent in 2016-17, whereas profits increased by 5.28 per cent for the profit-making CPSEs. CPSEs not only play a significant role in the growth of the Indian economy, but are also affected by the overall growth in the economy. The number of profitmaking CPSEs have increased to 174 from 164 CPSEs in the previous year. CPSEs have contributed to the central exchequer by way of dividend payment, interest on government loans and payment of taxes and duties. The total contribution of CPSEs to the Central exchequer increased from Rs 2,75,841 crore in 2015-16 to Rs 3,85,579 crore in 2016-17, thus reflecting a growth of 39.78 per cent. 

These figures reflect the importance of the CPSEs and their significant contribution to the Indian economyShashi Shanker CMD, ONGC 

Remunerative Gas Price is Need of the Hour to Promote Gas Based Economy

After acquiring HPCL, what is the impact on margins for ONGC? 

The strategic acquisition of 51.11% stake in HPCL was made by ONGC on January 31, 2018, at a purchase consideration of Rs 36,915 crore through a mix of internal accruals and short-term external borrowings.During the fiscal 2017-18, interest cost of Rs 264 crore was incurred towards borrowings for HPCL acquisition and dividend of Rs 1,129 crore was received from HPCL.

During FY2018-19, it is estimated that there would be an impact of around Rs2,000 crore on account of interest cost and reduced interest income. At the same time,dividend receipts from HPCL is expected to be about Rs 1,200 crore. However, this acquisition will strengthen consolidated financials of ONGC Group. 

What is your outlook on crude oil prices in FY19 and how are rising crude oil prices expected to impact ONGC's profitability? 

Oil prices in April 2018 rose to their highest in over three years.The US crude inventories declined and the world's largest oil exporter Saudi Arabia continued to withhold supplies. The price of Brent crude is currently trading at around USD 73 a barrel. 

As per the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), worldwide crude oil prices may average $63 a barrel in 2018 and in 2019 in terms of short-term energy outlook. 

The increase in crude prices augurs well for upstream sector and increase in every dollar improves the topline and bottomline of the company. However, with increase in prices, cost of input services also goes up. 

What are the challenges faced by the oil &gas sector in India? 

Thecrude prices today are higher by more than 30 percent than they were a year ago. While as an upstream oil company, ONGC will always favour higher prices, the current trend of price uptick is a cause for concern for the domestic energy market at large owing to the growing import bill. The forex outgo in FY'18 is likely to be anywhere between US$85-$90 billion versus around US$ 64 bn in FY'16. 

For upstream operators, the current level of domestic gas prices is another matter of concern – the current gas pricing formula needs to be further rationalised to allow economic viability for urgent monetisation of our gas resources. The current gas price of $3.06/mmbtu is not making a few of our promising gas-based projects economically viable. OIDB cess also needs to be more reasonable than the current 20 percent ad valorem. 

On a countywide scale, infrastructure availability and last-mile connectivity is a key issue in determining the success of many national plans. The government's focus on expanding the domestic gas grid/pipeline network and emphasis on more LNG terminals is certainly a positive step. Further, the oil and gas sector also needs to factor in the emerging challenge that is posed by the growth of EVs and renewables to overall fuel demand. 

Going forward how much GRM do you expect in FY19? 

During FY19,our endeavour is to achieve operating GRM of around US$ 8 per BBL in MRPL. 

What is your target for gas production in 2 to 3 years? 

The target for our domestic gas volumes is pegged at 24.4 BCM (excl. JVs) for FY'19. We are gearing up our project pipeline with a view to achieve growth between 5%-8% over FY'19 output. 

What is your capex plan for FY19? 

ONGC is targeting a capex of about Rs32,000 crore in FY'19.

NBCC: Building A Sustainable And Profitable Business Model 

Anoop Kumar Mittal CMD, NBCC 

What is the outlook for the construction industry in India in the coming couple of years? 

India's construction industry is slated to follow an upward trajectory, fuelled by increased investments, domestic policy reforms, government's push towards infrastructure development and an evolving economy. The transformation which has taken place in housing and infra space in the last 2-3 years is already evident. Programmes like Smart Cities, Affordable Housing, PMAY, Bhartamala, Sagarmala, economy corridors, railways station redevelopment,road and transport augmentation, river cleaning, smart villages, UDAAN and AMRUT are the new growth drivers for the industry and are opening up new and diverse opportunities. We also see a greater emphasis on upgrading and redeveloping the existing infrastructure on the lines of sustainable and green development as the government has targeted a more sustainable and clean environment by 2020.

With rapid urbanisation that is taking place, India's urban population is set to reach 600 million by 2031. Adding to this is also the ongoing transition towards a ‘New India'. Due to the combined effect of all this, the Indian construction market will boom like never before. As an industry and NBCC, as India's construction leader - we are simply raring to go for an unmatched growth. 

What are the key challenges facing the construction industry in India? 

While the growth prospects for the industry are encouraging, there are certain hurdles that need to be addressed urgently; the key ones being - skilled manpower, technology adoption, and construction material. 

Currently, the construction industry is in the dearth of sufficient trained and skilled manpower in various trades. We are still following the traditional ‘brick and mortar' construction practices,which naturally widens the productivity gap. An untrained workforce means slowdown of projects and escalated project costs,which is acting as a great deterrent to India's infrastructure development plans. Technology adoption in this sector has also been lagging, which is in stark contrast to globally prevalent practices. Elements like prefabrication, energy saving features, mixed/composite construction, BIM, etc., are the transforming trends today, which we need to incorporate to be efficient. 

Lastly, dearth of quality building and construction material is another area of serious concern,which needs to be addressed in a proper way. 

Out of the three verticals in which NBCC operates, viz., project management & consultancy (PMC), engineering procurement &construction (EPC) and real estate development, which vertical is expected to grow the fastest in the coming two to three quarters? 

At NBCC, the PMC vertical continues to drive our business operations with 85%-90% revenue share in the company's total annual revenue. To breakdown our working in the PMC segment, it consists of management and consultancy services for a range of civil construction projects, including residential and commercial complexes, redevelopment of colonies, hospitals, educational institutions, office buildings, border fencing as well as infrastructure projects such as roads, etc. 

Redevelopment of government colonies is another landmark enterprise of the company which has resulted in humungous opportunities for us. The company will also leverage from the redevelopment works mandated in the development of Smart Cities and plans are already underway for redevelopment of 10 railway stations - Delhi Sarai Rohilla, Lucknow, Gomtinagar, Kota, Tirupati, Nellore, Ernakulam, Puducherry, Madgaon and Thane (new) stations. 

We are getting a lot of high-value orders under PMC as well as under the redevelopment vertical. The future prospects are very high considering the fact that NBCC is in talks with various clients and they are very keen to engage the company for redevelopment of their properties. Redevelopment model is the key to achieving our targets with a current share of 20 per cent in the company's revenue and which is expected to expand to 78 per cent within the next five years, considering its upwards momentum. 

Do you expect 2018 to be better year business wise than 2017? 

Definitely, we plan to gain hugely on the back of our asset-light PMC segment, strong balance sheet and plentiful projects in the pipeline. Moreover, 2017 was a year when we secured some high-value redevelopment projects, strengthening our order book position. These works have now started on the ground in early 2018. So, in the financial year of 2018, there will certainly be a good jump in our revenue, closing the year on a high note. That apart, the company is going to pursue a multipronged approach of carrying out a sustainable and profitable business model. Diversification and technology-driven implementation is going to be the company's mantra going forward. 

 To talk of domestic operations, the order portfolio is highly encouraging with approx Rs 80,000 crore worth of business underway and more than Rs 25,000 crore or so to mature. This momentum is sure to push ahead the financial graphs of the company. Adding to it is the transformatory ‘Self Revenue' model we have created, coupled with ‘Smart Development' approach of integrating all modern amenities, technology, sustainability features, etc; which has given a definitive edge to the company, leading to immense client confidence. 

We are looking to aggressively expand our overseas operations and from the current booking of Rs 700 crore, we are hoping to book Rs 5,000 crore of orders in the next five years. The recent enhancement of our order of social housing units in Mauritius speaks volume of our capability and capacity. 

We are perfectly positioned to expand beyond our traditional scope of businesses, identify new revenue streams and enter new markets. I see this company reaching an all-time high CAGR of 30-40 % this financial year onwards.

EdCIL: Aspiring To Be A Catalyst In Modernising Education 

Diptiman Das CMD, EdCIL (India) Limited 

In just three years your company has quadrupled its turnover. What factors do you attribute this success to? 

EdCIL's revenue has grown to INR 280 Cr (provisional) in FY'18 from INR 74 Cr. (FY'15). The PAT has also increased to INR 32 Cr (P) in FY'18 as against INR 7 Cr during FY'15. 

Various factors have accounted for this tremendous growth of the company. EdCIL sometime back formulated the company's medium-term strategy to chart out a clear growth path in sunrise areas of growth in Education and Human resource sector. 

Consequently, restructuring of verticals was also done, and new standard operating processes were put in place for each vertical to execute the projects efficiently and effectively. 

As a part of this restructuring, there is an enhanced focus on Digital Education Services, which we believe is going to be a game-changer in bridging the divide (in terms of quantity, quality and governance needs) in Education sector. The Digital Education Services was able to seize the market demand for enhanced digital and ICT learning and successfully completed projects for domestic and overseas market, such as for the Mauritius and Arunachal Pradesh Government. 

We have also added to our inhouse expertise at all the hierarchical levels by hiring new talent, including fresh recruits from renowned B-Schools of the country.

EdCIL's Early Digital Learning Program (EDLP) has been making waves. Can you brief us a bit about the project? Also, how did you manage to successfully execute such a huge project in a country like Mauritius? 

EdCIL's Online Testing and Assessment Services vertical focuses on organizing online examinations for recruitment of employees in various PSUs/Autonomous Bodies/Govt. Departments as well as teachers and principals in schools and higher educational institutions. The company migrated to the online mode of examination in the year 2015 with an aim to bring in a highly transparent, secured and efficient system to the government recruitment sector. Leveraging on our offline recruitment experience of over two decades, the company now synergizes its Govt./PSU recruitment process expertise with the IT platform strength of a partner. 

In these three years, the vertical has seen an overwhelming demand from the market. The company has successfully conducted examinations for nearly 45 lakh candidates in the last 3 years. We believe, this is only the tip of the ice-berg. Many of our PSUs, Government Organisations, Autonomous Bodies are now able to perceive the benefits of the online mode of examination and the demand is increasing at a tremendous rate. In addition to the safeguards of CCTV, encryption and decryption of date, biometric identification, etc, the company has entered into an agreement with a CPSE, to provide Jammers services during the online examination. The company has also launched an aggressive market outreach initiative to increase the business coming from PSUs, autonomous bodies and state governments. 

With so many positive changes happening in the recent times the expectations from your company has certainly increased. Has it led to a change in the company's long term strategy? What are the major challenges that you expect the company will face in the coming years? 

EdCIL is positioning itself as one amongst the best-in-class educational project management firms in the country and aims to meet the increasing expectations.

EdCIL has also developed standard operating procedures for its processes and is now focusing on implementation of in-house IT systems including implementation of ERP to streamline its current business verticals. 

The company has now shifted its focus towards bringing in digitisation in the education sector and is aiming to provide services in all emerging areas of IT/ICT in the education sector (e.g., smart classrooms, virtual classrooms, wi-fi systems, school MIS, ERP etc.) through internal competence and partnerships with best-in-class IT/ICT private sector service providers. 

The company started out as an Advisory company and till date this vertical remains one of its flagship division. We are proud to state that EdCIL has prepared Detailed Project Reports for setting up of majority of the INI (Institutes of National Importance) such as the IIMs, IITs, IIITs, ISERs, etc. and renders useful Education and HR consulting services across sectors such as Aviation, MSME, Railways, Water resources, Defence and Coal sectors. 

The company attaches highest importance to capacity building through adopting best-in-class hiring and professional training — another key driver in its transformational journey. EdCIL believes that building highly competent and motivated teams to serve different key verticals will be a key to its aspiration to grow as a catalyst in modernising the education sector for a better impact and outcome. 

"The Study in India programme aims to increase the inflow of inbound international students by 3 times through a systematic brand-building, marketing, social media and digital marketing campaign"

All stakeholders should place a sick company in the right hands to turn it around 

P M Chandraiah, MD, Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Ltd 

How is Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Limited (BCPL) performing in recent years and what are the key reasons behind the success story of turnaround of BCPL after reporting losses for more than six decades? 

BCPL has reported a turnover of Rs 80 crore in 2017-18 as against a turnover of Rs 17 crore reported in 2013-14 and during the same period the company was able to earn a net profit of Rs 9 crore in 2017-18 as against a loss of Rs 37 crore reported in 2013-14. The performance of BCPL for the last 5 years is as under: The turnaround of the company and achievement of net profit has been possible due to the stringent actions taken by the management such as the introduction of Centralized Procurement System, Centralized Accounting System, Centralized Collection System, Centralized Payment System, Centralized Bill Processing System, Centralized Payroll System, Centralized Stores System, Centralized Billing System, Centralized Fund Management System, Centralized HRM Record Maintenance System, etc. With the above actions, BCPL reduced procurement costs to a large extent and stopped financial leakages in the company, which can be seen from the reduction in direct costs to gross sales in 2017-18 to 52% compared to more than 76% in 2013-14. | 

Further, BCPL has taken a number of initiatives to improve the overall performance of the company like stoppage of cash transactions by opening more than 200 salary accounts of employees, closure of around 50 bank accounts of the company, introduction of biometric attendance system, introduction of annual appraisal system of employees, finalization of quarterly financial results and closely monitoring operations, installation of CCTVs in Corporate Office, factories and depots, disposal of more than 30 horses which were lying unutilized for 10 years, introduced gate control system in the factories and offices, installation of around 70 domestic electric meters in quarters at Maniktala and Panihati by disconnecting the industrial electric connection, surrendering/ disconnecting around 20 telephone connections, reducing manpower, security personnel, daily rated labours, implementation of sales/distribution system by issuing manual, motivating employees by organizing birthday and retirement day celebrations, issuing appreciation letters for the extraordinary work done by them, tie-up with Big Basket (e-commerce platform) and opening of retail stores of BCPL, etc.

Further, due to the improvement in the financial position of the company and net cash generation, we have repaid the entire loan of Rs 28 crore to United Bank of India and now BCPL is a debt-free company (except loans from Govt. of India). By repaying the bank loan, BCPL got released its mortgaged Corporate Office building at Kolkata, which was mortgaged as early as in 1983. Further, BCPL has paid Rs 6 crore to Government of India in 2017-18 towards repayment of loans taken in the year 2005 and 2006, which is also the first time in the history of BCPL. With the repayment of bank loan and Govt. of India loan, the company is able to save a substantial amount towards interest costs, which was as high as Rs 10 crore a year, which is also one of the reasons for reporting of net profits. 

What are your internal growth targets for FY19 and FY20? 

BCPL has released "Vision and Strategy Document" in June 2016 after I took over the additional charge of Managing Director. According to Vision and Strategy Document, BCPL targeted to become a profit-making company in 2016-17, and planned to become a profit-making company (excluding other income and interest on loan) by 2017-18. Both the above two targets were achieved by BCPL in these two years. Further, as per the Vision and Strategy Document, BCPL has to achieve a turnover of Rs 200 crore by 2019-20, and the entire BCPL team is very much confident to achieve the target. For 2018-19, we have set a turnover target of Rs 120 crore to Rs 130 crore and to earn a net profit of Rs 18-Rs 20 crore. Similarly, we are planning to achieve a net profit of Rs 40 crore in 2019-20 on a turnover of Rs 200 crore. When you see the financial performance of the company, we are targeting to double the profits till 2019-20 every year from 2016-17 onwards.

Do you think that your target of achieving Rs 200 crore turnover in 2019-20 is too optimistic? Going through the financial performance of BCPL in the last four years, could anybody have thought or even dreamt in 2014 that BCPL will achieve turnover of Rs 85 crore and net profit of Rs 4.51 crore in 2016-17, that too when the company was reporting continuous losses for the last 65 years, and especially when BCPL reported a net loss of Rs 37crore on a turnover of Rs 17 crore in 2013-14. We will work hard as a team and I am personally confident that we can achieve it. Further, we will make BCPL a positive net worth company by 2025. BCPL was in a growth/acceleration stage in 2014-15 and 2015-16, in consolidation stage during 2016-17 and 2017-18 and it will again be in growth/acceleration stage from 2018-19 onwards. In this direction, BCPL is likely to achieve at least 50% higher turnover in June 2018 quarter, as compared to June 2017 quarter and is also likely to earn a net profit of around Rs 5 crore in the quarter ending June 30, 2018, which will be more than the yearly profit of 2016-17, for which we are having sufficient orders in hand and have already planned to execute them. Further, our turnover will definitely increase by around 50% in H1 of 2018-19 compared to H1 of 2017-18. The turnover comes from the new manufacturing facilities, which we have commissioned during the last three years. Now, we have to do good marketing to get orders. There is no production issue and union activities are under control now. 

What are the growth challenges of pharmaceutical industry in general and for your company in particular? What are the growth drivers for BCPL?

The pharmaceutical industry today is passing through an extremely crucial phase as the market is predominantly governed by generic medicines. Since there is a steady shift of this market to chronic lifestyle management, the economy of generic medicines will play a pivotal and dominant role, considering the duration of treatment being lifelong. However, the risk for BCPL needs to be assessed from a different view point altogether. Being a pharmaceutical PSU, the major source of revenue for BCPL is from pharmaceutical business. The business of BCPL is governed by the Pharmaceutical Purchase Policy (PPP) of Government of India, which is valid upto November 2018 and renewal of this policy is extremely crucial for BCPL. We have already prepared a roadmap for 2018-19 and planned for desired growth, which is dependent on the renewal of PPP. The prices were fixed considering the costs and adding respectable margin on the production cost of medicines. Hence, future prospect of BCPL may hamper if the validity of PPP is not extended, since we are wholly dependent on government orders. Further, 35% of the revenue comes from the Home Products Division of BCPL, where we have to increase our marketing network in order to achieve turnover of Rs 70 crore from this division in 2019-20. To increase the marketing network, we are facing a lot of difficulties in recruiting employees since the pay scales are not revised in BCPL and we are paying 1997 pay scales to our employees, which is one-third of the salary of other CPSEs which have implemented 2017 pay scales. 

The key growth drivers of BCPL are the Pharma Division, which contributes around 60%-65% of its turnover, and the Home Products Division, contributes around 35% of total turnover. We are estimating a turnover of around Rs 80 crore from Pharma Division and Rs 40 crore from the Home Products Division in 2018-19 in order to achieve an overall turnover of Rs 120-Rs.130 crore. 

What are the new product launches in FY19? 

The Government of India has sanctioned a revival package for Bengal Chemicals & Pharmaceuticals Limited (BCPL) in the year 2006 for modernisation of its plants and machineries at different locations. Due to some sort of mismanagement and lack of proper planning, BCPL was not able to commission its machineries which were already procured between 2008 and 2010. However, after the new management team joined BCPL in 2014, we have started commissioning of the machineries at Maniktala, Kolkata, from where we are manufacturing GMP compliant medicines. During the last two years, we have commissioned machineries of Ointment Section, Capsule Section and Tablet Section. During the last year, we have commissioned the Injectable Section at Maniktala, the commercial production of which has started from January 2018. 

Further, BCPL had stopped production of Anti-Snake Venom Serum (ASVS) from 2006, which we wanted to restart for which we have already signed MoU with NIPER and established a laboratory. In India and also in the neighbouring countries, the ASVS is in shortage, due to which number of poor people are losing their lives. To restart the ASVS production, we have approached our Administrative Ministry to give permission, which is awaited. As soon as we get permission, we will start construction of the buildings, procurement of machineries and, thereafter, we will start the production within two years. 

What is your personal/professional background and how did you think that BCPL can be a turnaround company? What is the message you want to give to the lossmaking companies and also to their stakeholders? 

I started my career with NTPC after completing my Class 12. Thereafter, I pursued B.Com and ICWA through correspondence course while working with NTPC. I was not elevated to the officer's post even after acquiring professional qualification as I was working merely as a clerk. Therefore, I shifted to IREDA in May 1997. Thereafter, I joined IRCON, NSPCL, EPIL in higher capacities. I joined BCPL as a Director (Finance) in November, 2014 and was given additional charge of Managing Director from June 1, 2016. When I joined BCPL, the company and its directors were placed in the list of "defaulting company" and "defaulting directors" and the annual accounts of three years were pending, cost audits of six years were pending, which we completed within a period of six months. After that, I started to get support from my employees and unions to improve the performance of the company. With their support and hard work and with my plans and guidance, we were able to report profits in 2016-17, thereby making BCPL a turnaround profit-making company after a gap of around 65 years. Thus, this turnaround created a history, which was also the biggest turnaround in the corporate world.

SPOTLIGHT 

REC: A Catalyst In The Growth Of Power Sector 

Rural Electrification Corporation Limited (REC), a NavRatna Central Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Power, was incorporated on July 25, 1969, under the Companies Act 1956. REC is a listed NBFC havinginfrastructure status with a net worth of Rs 36,567 crore and loan book of over Rs 2 lakh crore as on December 31, 2017, with the main objective of financing and promoting generation, transmission and distribution projects across the power-sector value chain. REC mobilizes funds from various sources, including raising of funds from domestic and international agencies and extends loans to the state/Central, private power utilities, state government and private power developers. 

REC also plays a strategic role in power sector reforms and advancement by acting as the nodal entity, project management and implementing agency for various schemes and programmes on behalf of Government of India. 

REC has diversified its business by financing renewable energy projects across the country to safeguard the environment against global warming. The company extends financial assistance to renewable energy projects at lower interest rates, as compared to conventional generation projects.

The Corporate Office is located at New Delhi and there are 24 state offices located at different state capitals of the country, in addition to a training institute, viz. REC Institute for Power Management and Training at Hyderabad. REC also has two wholly-owned subsidiaries — REC Power Distribution Company Limited (RECPDCL) and REC Transmission Projects Company Limited (RECTPCL). 

Key financial highlights: 

The company sanctioned loans worth Rs 95,053 crore and disbursed loan amount of Rs 39,427 crore as on December 31, 2017. During the nine months ended December 31, 2017, the total operating income of the company stood at Rs 16,892 crore and profit after tax stood at Rs 3,812 crore.

In addition to the above, REC, as a good corporate citizen, also contributes 2% of its PAT for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. 

REC's plans for the next few years 

The power sector scenario is undergoing accelerated transformation globally by virtue of technological innovation and response to the climate change protocols. These changes are posing challenges to all stakeholders, especially for institutions like REC.At the same time, these radical shifts are creating huge opportunities, provided the institutions can adapt themselves to the emerging ecosystem, create capacities to manage the change and seize the emerging business opportunities. The Government of India is putting special emphasis for promotion of electric vehicles (EV) through government incentives such as the Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme and push by the Ministry of Power, furthering of renewable energy, especially, solar roof top, smart grids, etc.

REC, besides consolidating its existing financing of power infrastructure space, is also exploring new business opportunities to complement existing revenue streams. The EV space provides one high growth avenue. As the automotive sector and power sector will now become highly inter-linked, REC is well-positioned to explore this growth opportunity. 

REC will play a vital role 

1. as a financing partner for imminent investments in this space through fund provision, a JV, setting up a SPV and also other mediums — not limited to existing clients such as distribution companies (DISCOMs) and generators, but also other entrants in this space e.g., end-consumers for procurement, OEMs (vehicle manufacturers), other new entrants 

2. as a collaboration medium to facilitate knowledge exchange and catalyse sector development — in the current nascent stage of the sector, it is imperative to garner perspective and enhance knowledge-sharing among different players in the value chain. REC is structurally advantaged as a potential umbrella financer to further promote this initiative. 

This will enable REC to be the leading institution in securing affordable, accessible, quality 24/7 power for all citizens of India by 2022 and sustain the momentum through the next decade.

GIC Re: The Trusted Brand In Reinsurance 

Incorporated in 1972, General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC) is the largestreinsurance company in India in terms of gross premiums accepted in FY17, andit has accounted for approximately 60% of the premiums ceded by Indianinsurers to reinsurers during FY17. GIC Re provides reinsurance across many keybusiness lines, including fire (property), marine, motor, engineering, agriculture,aviation/ space, health, liability, credit and financial and life insurance. 

GIC Re was a wholly-owned company of the Government of India until it issued its first tranche of IPO shares in October 2017. GIC has also diversified its business geographically to grow its underwriting business and profitability as well as to maintain a balanced portfolioof risks. It has developed its overseas business through its home office in Mumbai,branch offices in London, Dubai and Kuala Lumpur, a representative office in Moscow and a subsidiary in the United Kingdom that is a member of Lloyd's ofLondon and a subsidiary in South Africa. Post the approval of the Lloyd's Franchise Board, GIC Re became the fifth new 2018 Lloyds Syndicate Start Up. 

Through its more than 44 years of experience and commitment in providing reinsurance products and services, GIC Re has become a trusted brand to its insurance and reinsurance customers in India and overseas. It is ranked as the12th largest global reinsurer in 2017 in terms of grosspremiums accepted. 

GIC have been rated "A-"(Excellent) with a stable outlook by AM Best for 10 consecutive years

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