Which companies are making the most money and which are not?
- November 1, 2021
The energy sector is booming in India.
While coal companies continue to dominate, there are also many energy-focused companies with high margins, like Semco Energy, which recently announced that it is selling its coal-fired power plant business to the US-based utility Exelon.
The other energy companies are also doing well.
The Indian Power Corporation, or IPC, said on Monday that it generated revenues of $2.1 billion in the current financial year and is the biggest player in the sector.
Semco, the largest coal-burning power company in India, has also been increasing its dividend, which was last paid in March.
In the past few years, coal companies have been struggling with lower costs and a weak rupee.
The government is now trying to push the sector forward by investing in renewables.
The recent expansion of the national grid will help boost the sector, which has been slow to adopt renewables, but it is still a long way from a fully self-sufficient energy sector, analysts say.
The country is also trying to shift to a low-carbon energy economy.
Last year, India launched a new carbon tax, and the government hopes to boost the country’s clean energy growth by raising more revenue through the tax.
“The tax is expected to help the industry to ramp up production,” said R.K. Rajaratnam, managing director of Clean Energy Investment Management.
“There are many reasons for this, but one of the most important ones is that the tax will help the IPC invest in its coal power plant.”
India is also aiming to reduce its dependence on imports of coal.
The United States is one of India’s biggest trading partners, and India also has an active market in Asia.
But, according to analysts, India’s carbon-intensive energy mix has made it hard to move towards a low carbon economy.
The World Bank says that India is the fifth-biggest coal-dependent country, and coal consumption is expected continue to grow, even after the government’s recent move to lower emissions targets.
The industry is still reeling from the devastating 2010 nuclear disaster at Kargil, where hundreds of thousands of people died, which led to a major power shortage.
India’s government also blames the nuclear disaster on the government not doing enough to clean up the disaster site.
India has also faced a power shortage due to the ongoing power cuts in India and Pakistan, which is also a member of the Paris climate accord.