India's largest power utility, National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd. (NTPC) said yesterday that the company plans to invest Rs55,000 crore ($11.6 billion) in the next three years to augment its power generating capacity by around 19,000 megawatt (MW). 

NTPC chairman and managing director R.S.Sharma told reporters that the total capital expenditure would be to the tune of Rs55,000 crore which is expected to generate a revenue of  around Rs80,000 crore by the end of FY12, a whopping 90 per cent up from the current level of Rs42,000 crore.

The fund requirement shall be met 70 per cent through debt from financial institutions and the balance 30 per cent from equity.

The company had planned to achieve a total capacity of 50,000 MW by 2012 from the present level of 30,144 MW.

''During the eleventh five year plan period (2007-2012) our aim is to add 22,000 MW to our installed capacity. In the first two years, we had commissioned around 2900 MW and work is in progress for another 18,000 MW. In 2009-10 our capital investment will be Rs17,700 crore,'' Sharma said.

The outlay will include Rs10,000 crore for doubling  the capacity of the Simhadri power plant in Andhra Pradesh to 2,000 MW from the current level of 1000 MW, and putting up another new 1,000 MW plant in Vallur, Tamil Nadu.

The Simhadri plant currently supplies power to consumers in the state of Andhra Pradesh, and further to the planned capacity addition it will distribute 70 per cent of the new power generated to the nearby states. The Vallur plant, which is a joint venture with the Tamil Nadu State Electricity Board, will also cater to the needs of all the southern states.

Besides, a 500 MW power plant in Karnataka based on wind energy is also scheduled to be completed by 2010.

The company has ambitious plans beyond the eleventh plan period as well. It intends to attain a capacity of around 75,000 MW in the twelfth plan period from 2012-17, generating power through diversified sources.

The portfolio will have a mix with coal based capacity of around 53,000 MW, 10,000 MW through gas, 9,000 MW through hydro generation, about 2,000 MW from nuclear sources and around 1,000 MW from renewable energy sources.

The chairman said that the public sector major would sign an agreement with the coal behemoth Coal India Ltd. (CIL) for jointly setting up a 4,000 MW power plant at a cost of Rs25,000 crore in Jharkhand.

The company is also close to reaching an agreement with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd. (NPCIL) for a setting up a joint venture company for foraying into the field of nuclear power generation.

Fuel supply agreement with CIL
NTPC on Friday signed a 20-year fuel supply agreement (FSA) with CIL for uninterrupted supply of the much-needed fuel for power generation. The agreement which comes with both penalty and bonus clauses would ensure a major share of NTPC's coal requirement for its coal-based power plants.

CIL chairman Partha Bhattcharyya said that provision has been kept in the FSA for penalty for short delivery or short lifting of coal against a trigger level of 90 per cent of agreed quantity by both, CIL and NTPC, as well as bonus for excess supply and excess lifting of coal.

NTPC would get 114.7 million tonnes of coal during the current year against its annual requirement of around 155 million tonnes.

Last week, the company formed a joint venture, International Coal Ventures Ltd. with SAIL, CIL, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd. and NMDC for carrying on overseas acquisitions and operation of coal mines. (See: NTPC forms JV with SAIL, CIL and others)
NTPC shares rose 3.8 per cent yesterday to close at Rs215.45 on the Bombay Stock Exchange.