ABSTRACT
Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) hold a strategically important and dominant position in India's energy sector controlling coal (92%), gas (83%), crude oil (71%), and installed power capacity (54%). These PSUs are valuable assets for the Indian state and deliver significant financial benefits to its primary shareholder, the Government of India. With the growing pressure from cost-competitive clean energy sources and India's global decarbonisation commitments, the businesses of Indian PSUs are likely to face challenges due to their carbon-intensive nature, thereby opening up the possibility of translating into a loss for the Indian state at large and necessitating mitigatory strategies. This chapter identifies and evaluates business diversification strategies for the PSUs facing the most imminent challenge, i.e., the ones engaged in the business of coal mining (CIL) and producing coal-based electricity (NTPC). The diversification strategies take into consideration a multi stage framework covering business alignment, technology maturity, market potential, and financial attractiveness to develop competing investment scenarios. This analysis enables medium- to long-term business planning for future proofing of these PSUs through diversification of their business in other relevant businesses.
