NLC India is firmly on the path from being a lignite-centric PSU to a resilient, diversified and future-oriented integrated energy company. Dr Prasanna Kumar Acharya, Director (Finance), NLC India Limited, exclusively speaks to Nisha Samant, Associate Editor, APAC Media that the role of the finance function at NLC India has evolved well beyond traditional oversight and control.
NLC India is transforming from a conventional lignite-based PSU to an integrated energy company. As Director (Finance), what is the single toughest financial decision you have had to take during this transition—and what did it change for the organisation?
The toughest and most consequential financial decision was to fundamentally reset the organisation’s long-term vision by defining clear milestones for 2030 and 2047. This was not merely an exercise in financial planning, but a strategic signal that NLC India was committed to long-term transformation rather than incremental change.
From a finance perspective, this required reallocating capital priorities—building a robust renewable energy portfolio, creating a clear roadmap for capacity expansion and simultaneously diversifying our funding sources, including tapping international markets. This shift altered the organisation’s growth narrative, reshaped our risk and revenue profile and signalled to stakeholders—investors, policymakers and employees alike—that the organisation was committed to long-term value creation rather than incremental change. Most importantly, it positioned NLC India firmly on the path from being a lignite-centric PSU to a resilient, diversified and future-oriented integrated energy company.
How do you strike a financial balance between sustaining legacy thermal and mining assets while aggressively investing in renewables, storage and new-age energy projects without overstretching the balance sheet?
The foundation of this balance lies in capital discipline and optimal capital structuring. NLC India’s balance sheet is currently equity-heavy, with a debt-equity ratio of less than one. This provides us with the financial headroom to judiciously leverage debt for growth without compromising stability.
Our legacy thermal and mining assets continue to generate stable and predictable cash flows, which play a critical role in underpinning balance sheet resilience and funding flexibility. These cash flows allow us to sustain and optimise existing operations while supporting strategic investments in new energy segments.
At the same time, investments in renewables, storage and other new-age energy projects are being carefully phased, structured and aligned with clearly defined return thresholds. By adopting a calibrated approach to capital deployment—combining internal accruals, prudent leverage and diversified funding sources—we can progressively reallocate capital toward future-oriented businesses. This ensures that NLC India advances its energy transition agenda in a financially responsible manner, without overstretching the balance sheet or diluting shareholder value.
In an environment of rising capital costs and regulatory scrutiny, what new benchmarks or filters do you personally apply before approving large capital expenditure at NLC India?
In an environment characterised by rising capital costs and heightened regulatory scrutiny, the benchmarks applied before approving large capital expenditure at NLC India extend well beyond conventional financial appraisal metrics. While financial viability remains fundamental, every major investment is evaluated through a comprehensive, risk-adjusted decision framework.
This framework incorporates a detailed assessment of project-specific risks, including regulatory and policy exposure, execution and implementation challenges, supply-chain dependencies and alignment with the company’s overall risk appetite and long-term strategic objectives. We also evaluate the resilience of projected returns under varying macroeconomic and policy scenarios.
A key aspect of our approach is that risk mitigation is embedded at the approval stage itself, rather than addressing post-facto. Robust scenario and sensitivity analyses—covering potential cost escalations, delays and revenue variability—form an integral part of the evaluation process. Additionally, adequate contingency provisioning and clearly defined governance mechanisms are mandated upfront.
This disciplined and forward-looking approach ensures that capital is deployed selectively, prudently and in a manner that safeguards balance-sheet strength, while enabling NLC India to pursue growth opportunities aligned with its strategic transformation agenda.
Traditionally, finance in PSUs has been compliance-driven. How are you redefining the role of the finance function at NLC India—from a controller to a strategic growth partner?
While regulatory compliance and financial governance remain non-negotiable foundations, the role of the finance function at NLC India has evolved well beyond traditional oversight and control. In the current dynamic and capital-intensive energy landscape, finance must play a proactive role in driving value creation and supporting organisational growth. 
At NLC India, the finance function is now deeply integrated into strategic decision-making processes. It actively contributes to evaluating new business models, assessing the financial viability of emerging energy opportunities, structuring investments and optimising capital allocation across diverse energy verticals. Finance teams are engaged at the earliest stages of project conceptualisation, ensuring that strategic choices are underpinned by rigorous financial analysis and risk assessment.
The objective is not merely to safeguard assets or ensure compliance, but to act as a strategic partner to the business—enabling informed, forward-looking decisions that balance risk and return. By adopting this expanded mandate, the finance function is playing a pivotal role in enhancing long-term stakeholder value and supporting NLC India’s transformation into a future-ready, integrated energy company.
Which under-leveraged asset or financial opportunity within NLC India do you believe can significantly enhance value in the next five years, but is currently under-discussed?
One under-leveraged financial opportunity within NLC India that has the potential to significantly enhance value over the next five years lies in the strategic monetisation of our renewable energy assets. These assets possess strong inherent value, underpinned by competitive tariffs, stable operating performance and long-term power purchase agreements that provide predictable cash flows.
While the focus has traditionally been on capacity addition, there is considerable scope to unlock additional value through calibrated asset recycling and alternative investment structures. Such approaches can help release locked-in capital, improve return ratios and create financial flexibility to fund the next phase of growth—particularly in emerging areas such as storage and new-age energy solutions.
This opportunity can play a meaningful role in enhancing shareholder value, strengthening balance-sheet efficiency and accelerating NLC India’s transition into a diversified, integrated energy company over the medium term.
When you look back at your tenure as Director (Finance) at NLC India, what legacy do you want to leave behind—for the institution and for future finance leaders in the PSU ecosystem?
I aspire to leave behind a mindset shift—encouraging finance leaders to think beyond traditional boundaries. Limiting decision-making strictly to the finance domain does not serve the growth ambitions of modern enterprises.
I believe finance leadership must adopt a broader, strategic perspective—one that integrates operational, regulatory and market realities. If future leaders carry this holistic approach forward, it will strengthen not only NLC India but the PSU ecosystem as a whole.
As I often emphasise, finance professionals must move beyond being mere number crunchers. They should actively engage with all CXOs, collaborate across functions and truly act as partners in progress—contributing insights that shape strategy, drive execution and support sustainable growth.
As NLC India accelerates renewable and diversified energy projects, how do you balance financial risk with regulatory and market uncertainties, especially in new segments like storage, EV infrastructure and renewables?
As NLC India accelerates its presence in renewables and diversified energy segments, balancing financial risk with regulatory and market uncertainties requires a combination of continuous engagement, informed anticipation and portfolio-level thinking. In emerging areas such as energy storage, EV infrastructure and new-age renewable solutions, regulatory frameworks and market dynamics are still evolving, making proactive oversight essential.
We maintain close and ongoing engagement with policymakers and regulators, while simultaneously tracking market trends and the evolving energy value chain. This allows us to anticipate shifts, align our investment strategies accordingly and avoid reactive decision-making.
From a financial standpoint, diversification is a key risk-mitigation tool. By spreading investments across multiple technologies, geographies and business models, we consciously avoid over-concentration in any single segment. Importantly, each new initiative—whether in storage, EV infrastructure, or renewables—is evaluated not in isolation, but as part of an integrated portfolio strategy. This ensures that individual project risks are balanced against overall portfolio resilience, enabling NLC India to pursue growth opportunities in a financially prudent and sustainable manner.
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