NTPC Looking For Coal Mines Overseas

NTPC Ltd has extended its search for coal blocks abroad and is eyeing at options in Mozambique and South Africa. NTPC has already been eyeing at infusing in coal blocks in Indonesia. NTPC looking to get fuel supplies in order to support its ambitious generation aim. NTPC, which requires about 110 million tonnes of coal at its 15 coal-fired stations annually, had imported around 2.5 million tonnes of coal last fiscal. NTPC has floated an alliance firm called Coal Ventures International Ltd in partnership with Steel Authority of India Ltd, Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Ltd, Coal India Ltd and National Mineral Development Corporation to secure coal mines abroad.

ICICI Pru Infra Buys SAIL, RIL, Voltas; Sells NTPC

ICICI Pru Infrastructure Fund has made huge buying and selling in the month of March. The scheme increased its weightage to oil and telecom stocks while reduced in power, banking, engineering, cement and auto sectors. The weightage to oil and gas sector has increased by 6.4% as the scheme has made fresh buying of 13.73 lakh shares of Reliance, which has corrected nearly 35% from its 52-week high and 0.75 lakh shares of Aban Offshore. RIL has hit a low of Rs 2120 in the month of March and is the top holding counter in the scheme. However, it has sold 12.4 lakh shares of Cairn India and 3.5 lakh shares of HPCL, and exited ONGC.

NTPC Signs MOU With Secretary (Power), Government Of India

National Thermal Power Corporation Ltd (NTPC) has informed that the Company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Secretary (Power), Government of India for generating 2.09 billion units of Electricity during the financial year 2008-09. In addition, the MOU includes targets of important milestones relating to Project completion schedule of ongoing power projects, coal mining activities, Total Quality Management, Human Resources Development, Business Development Activities including activities of Gas Exploration, Distributed Generation, R&R, ERP and R&D, Energy Technology Project Management Certification, Ash Utilisation and Environment measures and also the targets in respect of subsidiaries of NTPC, i.e. NVVN, NESCL, NHL and Vaishali (Power).

NTPC Forges Alliance With Indonesian Company

New Delhi: NTPC is the biggest power company in India, but it is yet to bag an ultra mega power project under its belt. It is finally looking to reverse the trend and has tied up with Indonesian company Sugico Graha for all coastal UMPPs to be offered. According to sources, NTPC-Sugico tie-up is only for coastal UMPPs and it has already signed confidentiality agreement with Sugico.

Sugico Graha''s big oil coal blocks in Indonesia will give NTPC enough room to make competitive bidding and that will give the coal linkage for the three coastal UMPPs. And on a day when stock market witnessed yet another fall, NTPC seems to be powering ahead. The analysts believe that the company has enough potential, not only for UMPPs but also for other projects too.

The government is pushing the power PSUs to add capacity to achieve its XIth plan targets of 78,000 MW. To match the efficiency and competiion efficiency of the aggressive private sector power companies, it is pushing the PSUs for tie-ups with foreign partners. in this case too, it is learnt that the Power Secretary Anil Razdan himself has taken the lead to push NTPC to explore the opportunity with Indonesian companies for coal linkages.

NTPC Signs Pace With UP Utility

Coimbatore: NTPC has informed that a joint venture pact has been inked between the company and UPRVUNL, on Feb 28, for implementation of 2x660 MW coal-based thermal power project at Meja in District Allahabad of Uttar Pradesh. The project shall be implemented by the proposed joint venture company having equal equity participation on build, own and operate basis. In another notification, the company said it has inked a loan pact with Nordic Investment Bank (NIB), a multilateral financial institution owned by the Nordic and Baltic countries, to part finance the capital expenditure of its projects. The loan has a maturity of 12 years comprising availability period of 3 years and carries a floating rate of interest linked to EURIBOR and is without sovereign guarantee.

NTPC Names 14 New Eds

New Delhi: NTPC Ltd has named 14 new executive directors at its various subsidiaries and projects. NTPC has named 14 executive directors to head its various divisions for attaining its growth plans in the areas of forward, backward, lateral integration and subsidiaries and joint venture projects.

NTPC Inks Agreement With BSEB

New Delhi: NTPC Ltd and Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) have inked a pact to promote an alliance company to setup, operate and maintain a 1,980-MW (3x660MW) coal-based power station at Nabinagar in Bihar. NTPC and BSEB will have equal shareholding of 50:50 in the joint veuture, NTPC informed the BSE. NTPC currently has an installed capacity of 28,644 MW. The power major is entering into hydro generation, coal mining, power distribution, power trading and equipment manufacturing, among other related sectors.

NTPC Enters Into Power Tools Market

New Delhi: NTPC will diversify into equipment manufacturing, with the board giving the go ahead for an alliance with Bharat Forge, India''s largest forging company. NTPC is positioning itself in such a way that it becomes a source of raw materials used for making the equipment and for supplying the main equipment. The entry is a part of the company''s strategy to decrease the shortages of power equipment in the country, which is hampering the addition of power generation capacity in the country. NTPC, which has an installed capacity of 27,904 mw and produces one-third of the country''s electricity, mulls to increase its capacity to over 50,000 mw in the next five years. It is a challenging task when there is a severe shortage of all kind of equipment with BHEL, the country''s leading power equipment major, unable to meet the burgeoning demand.