The Hindu Business Line : NTPC eyes coal mines overseas

NEW DELHI: The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) Ltd is looking at acquiring coal blocks in Indonesia, Mozambique and South Africa to bridge the fuel supply shortfall from domestic sources.

"We have ambitious capacity addition targets and the priority for me is to secure fuel supplies," said the NTPC's new Chairman and Managing Director Mr Ram Sharan Sharma on Friday.

It currently imports about 2 million tons of coal out of the total requirement of 110 million tons to fire its thermal power plants. The company is looking at coal mines abroad that can give upto 20 million tons of coal per annum.

"We are looking at coal mines in Indonesia, Mozambique and South Africa," he said but did not give details. The company needs about 5 million tons of coal for projects already planned and the balance would meet the fuel requirement of future projects.

It has already floated a joint venture firm Coal Ventures International Ltd, with Steel Authority of India Ltd, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, Coal India Ltd and National Mineral Development Corp to secure coal mines abroad.

The company's competitors like Tata Power and Reliance Power have acquired Indonesian coal blocks. Of the 29,144 MW generation capacity with NTPC, 18 are coal-fired plants with a cumulative capacity of 23,209 MW, while its remaining capacity operates on gas and liquid fuels like naphtha.

NTPC, he said, plans to add 22,430 MW of new electricity generation units during the 11th Five Year Plan (2007-12), about 28.6 per cent over the 78,000 MW generation capacity government plans to add during the period with the objective of providing 'Powe r to all by the year 2012'. - PTI

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