ESSAR Power Ltd has almost doubled its net profit for financial year 2004-05 to Rs 119 crore, compared to Rs 60 crore the previous year.

The company achieved higher profits through substantial savings by using natural gas instead of high cost naphtha for running its plant, a news release said.

Total income for the year ended March 31, 2005 was Rs 735 crore, up 34 per cent from Rs 549 crore last year. Total expenses for the unlisted company were at Rs 321 crore.

The company paid interest of Rs 175 crore and corporate tax of Rs 3 crore while depreciation costs were at Rs 117 crore. During the year, Essar Power refinanced long-term loans of Rs 1,019 crore bringing its borrowing costs to 8.66 per cent.

Essar Power now plans to increase its generation capacity to 2,000 MW from the present 515 MW by investing Rs 4,000 crore, the release said.