Be it the reason of high generation or the backing of higher tariff, the fact of the matter is that state-owned, National thermal Power Corporation has recently registered a marginal 5.6 per cent increase in the provisional net profit figure for the 2009-10 fiscal.

However, experts are of a view that the profit shows a marginal increase riding on the back of factors like lower interest income and a high base arising from an income-tax refund in the previous fiscal.

For the uninitiated, the company registered a profit-after-tax of Rs 8,656.53 crore in 2009-10.

According to the Chairman and Managing Director, R. S. Sharma, the comparatively lower increase (in net profit) is on account of lower interest income during the year and also on account of an income tax refund amount in the previous fiscal.

The high power generation capacity and the higher tariffs that it charged have kept the flag flying up in the air as far as the un-audited numbers of the company are concerned. It is believed that the company generated around 218.84 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh or units) of power in the last fiscal year that was up 6 per cent as compared to a 3 per cent growth that the PSU achieved in generation in 2008-09.