Kolkata, Apr 4 (PTI) To improve its bottomline, Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) is focusing on cost and operational efficiency, a company official said.

Debt management and cost optimisation remain in focus for the multipurpose utility jointly owned by the governments of West Bengal, Jharkhand and the Centre, he said.

The loan burden of the company has been reduced by Rs 3,252 crore in FY21 to around Rs 20,300 crore, the official told PTI.

Additionally, it refinanced its debt which was Rs 23,600 crore in April 2020 that lowered its interest outgo by Rs 76.83 crore during the fiscal, officials said.

"We retired Rs 1,900 crore short-term and Rs 1,352 crore long term debts," the official said.

During the year, the dues from the Jharkhand state government had been reduced by 34 per cent to some Rs 6,000 crore.

"This recovery was not part of the Centre's discom loan package. If the state government avails the loan, we expect to reduce our dues significantly in the current fiscal," officials said.

These measures will have a direct bearing on the bottomline of the power generator, they said.

The corporation is yet to announce its financial results for fiscal 2020-21.

Meanwhile, DVC chairman Ram Naresh Singh in a virtual address to the employees said, if the company is able to save one per cent in fuel costs it would save Rs 97 crore, and by increasing power generation by one per cent it would earn another Rs 80 crore.

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