NTPC to make final offer for Bandana Energy on July 29

18 Jul,2011, | PTI

KOLKATA: The country's largest power producer today said it will submit its final offer for a stake in Bandanna Energy Ltd on July 29.

"We are going to make our final bid for a stake in Bandana on July 29," NTPC Chairman and Managing Director Arup Roy Choudhury said here today on the sidelines of a Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industry organised seminar on power.

He, however, did not reveal how much stake the power producer was intending to take in the coal company having assets in Australia .

Bandanna holds 16 exploration permits in the Bowen and Galilee basins in coal-rich Queensland apart from licences to explore for minerals and oil shale there. It has reserves of at least 1.4 billion tonne of coal.

Bandanna, also has an allocation for 4 million tonne a year at the planned Wiggins Island Coal Export Terminal, which would allow it to ship from early 2014.

Reports suggest that a few other Indian companies, including GMR and Essel Mining, were among the many global companies vying for a stake in the coal explorer.

Meanwhile, NTPC aims to keep the coal import target at 16 million tonnes or 10 per cent of the total coal requirement for the current year.

Asked about de-allocation of five blocks by the coal ministry, Roy Choudhury said, "we are a generating company either we get coal from our sources or the government provides coal."

However, he said that representation to revoke the order had positive feedback from the ministry after NTPC said work in one mine Pakhri has started and coal extraction will begin from the next year.

The development of two blocks development are supposed to be done by Coal India with the NTPC chairman meeting the coal major chief on the issue.

"We are close to appointing consultants for another two blocks," Choudhury said. (sourced ET)