Kolkata, Jul 22 (PTI) West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd will remain a public sector undertaking, its Chairperson P B Salim said on Wednesday as the Suvendu Adhikari government proposed stock market listing of the state-owned electricity generation firm.
The market listing of this profitable state-owned enterprise would strengthen its capital base for future expansions, he said.CM Adhikari, who is also in charge of the power department, told the Assembly on Wednesday that his government would initiate the process of stock market listing of the West Bengal Power Development Corporation Ltd (WBPDCL).
This would strengthen WBPDCL financially, improve transparency, generate employment and enhance spending under corporate social responsibility, he said, while replying to a debate on the power department’s Rs 5,341-crore demand for grants for the current fiscal that was passed by voice vote.Following the announcement, Salim told PTI that the proposed listing would not amount to privatisation, and the state government would retain control of the company.“The company will remain a PSU. We are looking at divesting only a small stake, and the details will be worked out after discussions with consultants. We have just become eligible for listing, meeting SEBI regulations,” he said, adding the process of appointing a consultant for the listing was underway.“The intent is to increase the company’s capital base so that it has greater financial capacity to undertake capital expenditure for upcoming power generation and renewable energy projects,” Salim said.He said WBPDCL currently has a paid-up capital of around Rs 8,500 crore and authorised capital of Rs 20,000 crore.Highlighting the company’s improving financial health, Salim said WBPDCL is expected to post a net profit of around Rs 800 crore in 2025-26, a sharp improvement over the record net profit of Rs 324 crore reported in 2024-25.The company has the potential to increase its profitability to around Rs 1,500 crore, provided regulatory dues of nearly Rs 11,000 crore payable by the West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (WBSEDCL) are cleared, he highlighted.“The receivables locked up with WBSEDCL constrain our finances. Once these regulatory dues are realised, the company’s profitability can improve significantly,” Salim said.WBPDCL is the state’s principal power generation enterprise, operating thermal power stations at Kolaghat, Bakreshwar, Sagardighi, Santaldih and Bandel with an installed capacity of about 5,000MW.The proposed listing would make WBPDCL one of the few state-owned power generation companies in the country to access equity markets while remaining under government ownership, enabling it to raise long-term capital for its expansion plans. PTI BSM NSDThis report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.
