India’s Top PSUs 2022

Experts’ View 48 India’s Top PSUs 2022 REC has recently received a prestigious status of ‘Maharatna’. How would you describe this achievement? Tell us about REC’s journey since its inception. During the time of severe drought in 1969, the Government sought to reduce the dependency of agriculture on monsoons by energizing agricultural pump-sets for optimized irrigation. This is how REC Limited came into being, with an aim to articulate a response to the pressing exigencies of the nation by financing agricultural pump-sets. Thereafter, REC has ventured into newer paths and has established itself as the financial backbone of the power sector. REC has supported a large part of the transmission and distribution network of the country with over 7 lakh MVA of transformation capacity financed. In terms of generation, the Company has funded state-sector conventional energy capacity of more than 85,000 MW. REC has shown consistent growth in its portfolio. In FY22, the company registered the highest ever Net Profit of ` 10,046 crore, the highest ever in a fiscal. During Q1FY23, REC clocked a Net Profit of ` 2,447 crore while the Loan Book swelled to over ` 3.87 lakh crore, thus, propelling the organization to a Net Worth in excess of ` 52,000 crore. (as on 30th June, 2022) REC has been appointed as the Nodal Agency for numerous flagship schemes of the Government such as the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana (SAUBHAGAYA), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY) and the recently launched Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS). Owing to its consistent operational and business excellence, REC has recently been conferred the REC Limited status of ‘Maharatna’ – the highest recognition for a central public sector undertaking (CPSE). What role has technology/digital transformation played in transforming your organization? In order to facilitate seamless flow of data/files from various offices of the organization, REC has successfully implemented an integrated e-Office based system covering all major business functions. This enables capturing of data and information at the point of origin across all offices of REC and flow of the same up to the appropriate level depending on the defined workflow hierarchy. Further, underlining the urgent need to put in place a robust cyber security/resilience framework, REC has revamped its cyber security infrastructure with sophisticated technologies and techniques to protect critical business assets. What is your company’s growth strategy for next 3-5 years? Keeping the upgradation of REC to Maharatna in view and requirements of the sector, various new opportunities are lined up which include powering upcoming renewable energy projects (solar, wind, small hydro, biomass), investment in large hydro projects, solar roof top projects and solar parks. In addition to KUSUM projects (grid connected solar power plants), renovation & modernization of existing thermal power plants, replacement of old power plants and installation of pollution control equipment such as FGD (Flue-Gas Desulfurization) will also be a part of the diversified portfolio of the company. REC is also looking to finance dedicated upstream infrastructure for efficient supply of coal to thermal power stations. The Company has already commenced financing operations for development of coal mines. Ajoy Choudhury , Director (Finance) Dun & Bradstreet