Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, May 02, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, May 02, 2005 |
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Power Corporate - Mergers & Acquisitions NTPC scouts for partners to acquire coal mines abroad Archana Chaudhary
Mumbai , May 1 NATIONAL Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (NTPC) is scouting for partners to acquire coal mines abroad. The Rs 25,964-crore company, which accounted for 27 per cent of the power generated in India last year, wants to integrate itself — from owning sources of gas and coal supplies to distributing power. "We are looking for partners to acquire coal mines abroad. Imported coal will increasingly become an even more important source of clean coal for us," said a senior NTPC official. The landed price of coal for power projects along the coast is lower than the cost of transporting coal from mines to generation units situated in areas where power is sold. Also, Indian coal has a high ash content, which means it is more polluting and needs more processing. NTPC operates 13 coal-fired and seven gas-fired power stations apart from three joint venture projects. Its average tariff per unit is Rs 1.47 and this includes the more expensive gas-based power. The company wants to ensure long-term availability of coal for its ambitious plans of adding another 20,000-megawatt (MW) capacity by 2012 to its existing capacity of 21,435 MW. NTPC has already acquired one coal mine for captive use within India and is trying to acquire more. But delays in the allocation of coal mines for captive use and the availability of low quality, high-ash coal within India have led to NTPC looking at options abroad. The company will soon begin scouting for natural gas blocks abroad, along with gas major GAIL (India) Ltd. The two companies are finalising schedules for sending teams to scout for gas opportunities in Nigeria, Iran, Oman and Malaysia, the official said. In addition, it has entered into an agreement to buy gas from Reliance's K-G basin find off the Eastern coast to ensure gas supplies within India.
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