The Hindu Business Line : NTPC eyes majority stake in Indonesian coal blocks

New Delhi, May 12 NTPC Ltd, the country’s largest power generator, is eyeing majority stakes in one to two Indonesian coal mines and is likely to finalise a deal by the end of the current fiscal.

“We had identified one to two mines in Indonesia… We want to have a majority stake (in the mines) so that we have a control over the production and prices. We have already appointed three merchant bankers for this and our endeavour is to finalise the stake purchase by the end of this financial year,” NTPC’s Chairman and Managing Director, Mr R.S. Sharma, told reporters here. He, however, declined to give the names of the bankers and other details.

NTPC has a generation capacity of 29,144 MW. It plans to add 22,430 MW by 2012 and take the total capacity to 75,000 MW in 2017 to meet the fast expanding power demand in the country. NTPC generates most of its power from coal and has said it will need up to 130 million tonnes (mt) in the current fiscal, up from 122 mt a year ago.

Coal import

The company is likely to double its coal imports to 5 mt in the fiscal year that started on April 1 from a little more than 2.5 mt the previous year. The Indonesian mines have proven reserves of about 200-300 mt each, he said.

The move to acquire coal blocks in Indonesia is part of efforts by the utility to meet shortfall in the domestic coal supplies, which is affecting generation at some of its stations. Besides Indonesia, NTPC has been looking at the possibility of buying stakes in coal blocks in Mozambique and South Africa.

Besides coal blocks, the company is also trying to source 3 mt of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Nigeria to set up a 700-MW gas-based power plant and a 500-MW coal-based plant in the African nation, he said. The company is also looking at Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) contracts in West Asia.

Focus areas

The company’s focus areas also include re-powering and replacement of old units, introduction of ultra supercritical technology and clean coal technologies.

NTPC’s quest for coal blocks in Indonesia comes in the wake of efforts being made by other domestic firms to secure assets abroad. This month, Reliance Power Ltd said its unit had signed an agreement to acquire three Indonesian coal mines, while Tata Power had signed a $1.3-billion deal last year to buy stakes in two coal mines of PT Bumi Resources.

NTPC, which accounted for 28.5 per cent of the total electricity generated in the country last fiscal, plans to raise its capacity to 50,000 MW by 2012.

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