Adani Enterprises to supply coal to NTPC

March 05, 2012

Adani Enterprises will supply 4MT of coal imported from global sources between March to June 2012 to NTPC’s 14 power stations.Adani Enterprises, part of the Adani Group, has signed five agreements for supply of imported coal with NTPC Ltd, the country’s largest power generation company.

Adani Enterprises will supply 4 million tonnes (MT) of coal imported from global sources between March to June 2012 to NTPC’s 14 power stations across India. The imported coal is required to meet the coal blending requirements of the NTPC power stations.

The company will supply 1MT of imported coal to NTPC’s Talcher power stations, 1MT for Farakka and Kahalgaon stations, 0.5MT for Simhadri and Ramagundam stations, 0.8MT for Dadri, Rihand, Singrauli, Tanda, Unchchar and Vindhyachal stations and 0.7MT for Korba and Sipat stations.

Adani Enterprises is India’s largest importer of coal with a market share of over 50 percent with almost all the state-run power utilities in India as its customers. It is developing and operating mines in India, Indonesia and Australia as well as importing and trading coal from many other countries.

The company is expected to mine 200MT tonnes of coal per year in 2020, making Adani one of the largest mining groups in the world. In the late afternoon, Adani was trading at around Rs356 per share on the Bombay Stock Exchange, 0.47% down from the previous close.

(sourced MoneyLife.in)

NTPC and DVC to maximize coal production to help power plants

Tuesday, 21 Feb 2012

ET reported that the Indian government will prod state run firms such as NTPC and Damodar Valley to maximize production from their mines so that up to 150 million tonnes of additional coal could be produced annually.

The ministry official said interested PSUs with coal blocks may be asked to submit their revised mine plan documents for excess production of coal that can be sold to Coal India. Coal India may also be asked to assist other state run companies in appointing mine developers and operators for expediting coal block development.

The official said that “The PSUs have already been communicated about the proposal during recent review meetings. No formal or individual communications have, however, been sent so far. A few policy hurdles may obstruct the plan but the ministry feels it is better than depending on coal imports.”

The rise in production would facilitate setting up of power plants of 60,000 MW in the next three years.

(Sourced from ET)

NTPC told to begin production from 5 de allocated coal blocks

Wednesday, 15 Feb 2012

Mr P Uma Shankar Power Secretary at an Operation & Maintenance conference said public sector power major NTPC has been asked to begin production from five mines re-allocated to it by the Coal Ministry. The blocks had earlier been taken away after the company failed to develop them.

He said that “Some of NTPC coal mines were de-allocated now they have been re-allocated they should do something to increase production from those blocks.”

Last year, the Coal Ministry had cancelled allocation of five blocks Chatti Bariatu, Chatti Bariatu, Kerandari, Brahmani and Chichiro Patsimal to NTPC as it could not develop the mines within the stipulated timeframe.

In his address to the conference, the Union Minister of State for Power Mr KC Venugopal said the country should seriously focus on improving availability of domestic coal by developing more mines and had to find ways to improve fuel security.

He asked NTPC to work hard for early start of production of coal from its captive mines to help bridge the gap between requirement and availability as also lower the cost of power generation.
Pricing of coal

Mr Venugopal said availability and pricing of coal were two crucial issues confronting the power sector. He said initiatives had already been taken for execution of fuel supply agreements for plants commissioned beyond March 2009.

Meanwhile, sources said NTPC may soon begin work on its proposed 1,980 megawatt thermal power plant at North Karanpura in Jharkhand.

Mr Arup Roy Choudhury NTPC Chairman and Managing Ditrector said that “We are told that the report on the North Karanpura project is with the Finance Minister and we are also told that the project will come up. We are ready for the project.”

Mr Choudhury said he was hopeful of starting work on the project as soon as the panel gave its go-ahead. He said that “Our land acquisition is over. The moment we get the clearance, we would start work.”

The proposed plant has been in the news over its relocation, as it is planned in an area holding six billion tonnes of coal reserves. While the Coal Ministry was arguing in favour of relocating the proposed plant, the Power Ministry was opposed to the move, following which the matter was referred to a Ministerial panel last year.

(sourced Thehindubusinessline.com)

NTPC will release INR 34000 crore order by March end - BGR Energy

Monday, 13 Feb 2012 Source - CNBC-TV18

Mr BG Raghupathy CMD of BGR Energy told CNBC-TV18 that because of land possession issues, NTPC had to defer the order but he is confident of it being released from NTPC before the end of March.

The 34,000 crore NTPC order for supercritical boilers has been deferred. BGR Energy was L1 for INR 3,600 crore turbine order from NTPC. The order was expected to be released from NTPC before March. The company bid for INR 22,000 crore of projects.

Below is an edited transcript. Watch the accompanying video for more.

Q - Can you confirm to us whether this huge order has indeed been delayed?

A - NTPC has to be in possession of the land and they have to have the expert appraisal committee meeting at the Ministry of Finance. For one project Lara Super Thermal Power Project at Raigarh has been already completed and the land is also almost in possession so we are expecting the order to be released before the end of March.

In Darlipali we expect the order in the month of April. A small bit of land is to be acquired. Once that is over we expect NTPC to release it. So it is not going to be deferred, NTPC is going ahead with the placement of orders.

Q - NTPC is going ahead with the entire INR 34,000 crore orders that they have and you will be hearing from them by the end of March?

A - Yes.

Q - There has been a slippage in order book. In fact even in this quarter's performance there has been a big dip on the net profit and for orders as well. Are there any more delays that you are seeing from the clients on the ground with the kind of orders that you have got?

A - The entire country's power sector has been slipping orders for the last 12 months, nobody got any big order. We got INR 1,700 crore EPC job of 2x300 MW. Various projects are in the finalisation stage; one is in Rajasthan of 6,000 crore.

They have held discussion with BHEL and we expect to be called next and the 660 MW NTPC bulk tender NTPC is awaiting for the court decision and we have bid for nearly INR 22,000 crore of projects for BTG and EPC projects which is taking a little time which is usual but we expect these orders to come in within the next six months. As of today our order book is about INR 8,500 crore and with the two orders that we expecting in the month of March and April we will be adding INR 9,400 crore we will be adding to our order book.

Coal-fired energy BD signs power plant deal with Delhi

Monday, January 30, 2012, Rabi-ul-Awal 06, 1433

Dhaka —The Power Development Board (PDB) on Sunday penned an agreement with the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) of India to build a 1,320-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Bagerhat’s Rampal. The PDB signed its first-ever joint venture deal with a foreign firm at a ceremony at Bidyut Bhaban in the city. Finance Minister AMA Muhith and other top government officials of both the countries attended the event.

A five-member team of the NTPC led by Indian Power Secretary P Uma Shankar arrived in Dhaka on Saturday to sign the agreement. The PDB and the NTPC will implement the $1.5 billion project on a 50:50 equity basis. The NTPC will set up and operate the plant. Meanwhile, the cabinet committee on purchase gave final approval to seven more power plants with a combined generation capacity of 570 megawatts, which will be set up in the private sector. This is the first time, bidders for the furnace oil-based power plants made their tariff quotations in taka instead of the dollar. It means the tariff rate will not go up if the dollar soars in future, the Power Division said in its proposal.

The Power Division said it has approved the work order for the gas-based power plants on condition that 70 percent of the investment will be foreign. The 100MW to 170MW gas-based combined cycle power plant will be set up in Fenchuganj of Sylhet. The Power Division awarded the work order to a consortium of SNPC-Kushiara-DBPL, the lowest bidder.

The government will purchase electricity from the firm at Tk 2.83 per kilowatt. They will supply power to the national grid in 22 months.A consortium of Rupali Engineers & Traders Ltd of Bangladesh (lead firm) and PT Priamanaya of Indonesia became the lowest bidder to set up two 50MW furnace oil-based power plants.

The plants will be set up in Singair in Manikganj and Daulatpur in Nawabganj, Dhaka. The consortium quoted a tariff charge of Tk 6.99 a unit for electricity from both the plants. Another 50MW power plant will be set up in Kamalaghat Bazar, Munshiganj. The Power Division has recommended the consortium of Samuda Chemical Complex Ltd (lead firm), Samuda Power Ltd and ASM Chemical Industries Ltd for approval. The consortium proposed a tariff charge of Tk 7.17 a unit. Three more power plants will also be set up in Keraniganj, Bhairab and Satkhira.

(sourced Pakobserver.net)

NTPC Kahagaon receives 9 wagons of soil instead of coal

Tuesday, 13 Dec 2011

NTPC's Kahagaon unit received nine wagons of soil instead of coal from Eastern Coal India Raniganj colliery, a senior official of the power major.

Mr T Gopal Krishnan assistant GM fuel management of NTPC said that a rail rake containing 59 wagons had arrived at the NTPC plant in Bihar's Bhagalpur district via the merry go round rail route from Ukhra in West Bengal. During unloading, nine wagons were found to have soil in them instead of coal.

Mr Krishnan added that “While the coal consignment from 50 wagons have been unloaded, the nine wagons filled with soil have been left untouched. ECL has been intimated about the incident and asked to visit Kahalgaon to investigate the matter.”

The 2340 MW Kahalhgaon plant receives 11 to 15 rail rakes per day to meet coal demand, but this was the first time that such an incident took place.

(Sourced from PTI)

India's JSW joins state firms in seeking coal imports

December11, 2011

* NTPC, MMTC seek coal for utilities
* Gujarat Electricity to tender shortly
* Port stockpiles fall to 8-10 mln T from 12 mln

LONDON, (Reuters) - India's JSW Steel, part of the Jindal Group which makes steel and sponge iron, has joined state firms National Thermal Power Corp. (NTPC) and MMTC in issuing a tender to buy imported thermal coal, suppliers participating in the tenders said.

India's state utilities are suffering an acute shortage of fuel as domestic coal supply has fallen short of targets and as logistical constraints have hindered the transport of imported coal to where it is most needed.

Coal producers and traders hope this need will translate into higher imports and spot buying of South African and Indonesian coal in 2012.

"There are several quite large tenders in the market now, seeking coal for the next fiscal year until March 2013, and everybody is waiting to see the result," one of India's major trade importers said.

"There's been very little spot buying, but there are some tenders, such as Jindal's," a South African exporter said.

Some state utilities that have so far never used imported fuel may do so in the next fiscal year, which means NTPC and MMTC may issue more tenders, Indian traders and overseas coal suppliers said.

Indian end-users in the cement and sponge iron sectors also are relying increasingly on imports, but at present they can buy at competitive prices because there are high stockpiles in traders' hands at many ports..

Stockpiles are now estimated at 8-10 million tonnes, down from 12 million last month, Indian traders said.

JSW is seeking one 75,000 tonne shipment of South African, Australian, Russian, Colombian or Indonesian coal for delivery in January, for use in its captive power plant.

The coal must be between 5,850-6,000 kc/kg net as received, but Indonesian coal of 5,500-6,200 kc/kg gross air dried can be offered with a complete specification.

NTPC's tender for 4 million tonnes of coal for import during 2012 has closed and will be awarded by Dec. 23, traders participating in the tender said.

MMTC, meanwhile, is seeking 1.35 million tonnes, also for 2012, and Gujarat Electricity Board (GEB) is expected to issue a similar-sized tender before the end of December.

(sourced Reuters)

NTPC likely to exit JVs with Alstom - Report

Tuesday, 06 Dec 2011

Live Mint reported that India’s biggest power generation utility NTPC Ltd may wind up one affiliate and exit a joint venture with European company Alstom SA as part of a restructuring exercise suggested by consultant Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Pvt. Ltd.

People familiar with the situation said that the state owned company is considering closing NTPC Hydro Ltd and leaving NTPC-Alstom Power Services Pvt. Ltd, as suggested in a draft report submitted by Deloitte.

NTPC Singrauli Super Thermal Power Station at Shaktinagar in Sonbhadra District of Uttar Pradesh.

In addition, the report recommended a timed exit by NTPC from equipment manufacturing joint ventures such as NTPC BHEL Power Projects Pvt. Ltd, BF NTPC Energy Systems Ltd (BFNESL) and NTPC-Telk, a tie-up with Transformers and Electricals Kerala Ltd.

(Sourced from Livermint.com)

NTPC exits from ICVL - Report

Friday, 02 Dec 2011

It is reported that NTPC is exiting from International Coal Ventures.

(Sourced from India Infoline)

Coal supply shortage may further trip industrial growth

Monday,November 21, 2011

New Delhi:An examination of three broad categories in the otherwise dismal two-year low industrial growth of 1.9 per cent in September will show one silver lining: electricity. But, crucially, that month also saw a 17 per cent decline in the contracting coal output. Now, that shows a potential to dampen the growth of this crucial sector in the coming months, according to analysts.

However, National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) maintains it does not see any deficit in coal supply. For, the country’s largest company in the electricity sector has its domestic and imported requirements tied up for a year.

Anaylsts, on the other hand, caution that if domestic coal supplies do not improve significantly, the impact may be felt in the form of forward linkage in electricity and manufacturing in the coming months.

Coal contracted 17.8 per cent in September year-on-year on top of a 15 per cent decline in August. In fact from April- September, it has grown only by a just 2.5 per cent year-on-year. For, flooding of mines, bandhs and strikes pulled down coal supplies from the two main coal companies -- Kolkata-headquartered Coal India Limited and Singareni Collieries in Andhra Pradesh.

Economists argue that the vigorous electricity numbers till September will not be as promising in the coming months since the effect of coal shortage comes with a lag effect. Electricity generation grew by 9.4 per cent in the first six months, against a meager 3.8 per cent in the corresponding period last fiscal.

Kuljit Singh, power analyst, Ernst & Young, says power generation companies have been holding up the output numbers through coal imports, gas and solar inputs. “But if domestic coal supplies do not improve in the coming months, it will definitely impact power generation,” he told Business Standard. The expert, however is confident of an early rectification of the problems in the coal sector, adding “these are temporary blips”.

NTPC, on the other hand, says it does not foresee a problem with coal supplies for the 1975-founded company. In fact, the Delhi-based entity is consistently adding capacity. “We hope to add over 4000 MW capacity this year,” says an NTPC official. “We don’t see any deficit from our side.”

All the same, he is not willing to attribute the less generation in the power sector to coal shortage. “It is rather because of the bad health of the SEBs (state electricity boards),” he claims. “That is leading to a low demand of electricity. This, in turn, can lead to low generation.”

For the record, coal output in the index of industrial production (IIP) is calculated on the basis of despatches -- and not actual production. So, much of the coal problem may be related to logistics problem as well, according to analysts.

Anis Chakravarty, who is director of Deloitte, Haskins and Sells, predicts a chain reaction following the mining contraction. It will affect power generation, and ultimately hit manufacturing, he adds.

Electricity constitutes just over 10 per cent of the IIP. As such, a bit of fall in its generation may not impact much the overall industrial growth. But, it would have a cascading effect on manufacturing, which constitutes the bulk of the IIP.

In September, the manufacturing output expanded by only 2.1 per cent year-on-year, dragging down industrial growth, since it constitutes over 75 per cent of the IIP.

(sourced BS)

Big plan to move coal by river to Assam

Fri, Nov.18, 2011

Kolkata: Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) is exploring the possibility of transporting coal to Assam by the river route on a big scale.

“NTPC wants about one million tonnes of imported coal transported annually by the river route to meet the requirements of its Bongaigaon thermal plant”, Ms Bhupinder Prasad, Chairperson of IWAI, told Business Line.

“We’re examining how to do it. The coal is to be unloaded from barges at Jogigopa for onward movement by road to Bongaigaon thermal plant”.

Located at Salakati, the Bongaigaon thermal plant is about 60 km from Jogigopa.
To invite bids

IWAI would invite bids from intending firms for undertaking the entire operation once the detailed project report was ready, she said.

The river route to Assam is through Bangladesh. “But it should pose no problem as there already exists a trade and transit treaty between the two countries”, she added.
Critical role

The river transportation of coal, as Ms Prasad pointed out, would steadily pick up in coming years and IWAI would play a critical role in it.

According to one estimate, about 70 million tonnes-80 mt of imported coal would have to be transported by the river route by 2017, the terminal year of the 12th Plan.

By that time the country would be required to import about 250 mt of coal for the power sector and the railways would be able to handle about 160/180 mt of it.
11 thermal power plants

A spokesman for IWAI said already 11 thermal power plants could be accessed from the National Waterway Number 1, i.e, Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system, and another nine plants, some with huge capacity, were due to come up along the river system.

“The potential for barge movement of coal by the river route, therefore, is huge”, he said. “Virtually sky is the limit”.

The existing plants are located at Kolaghat, Budge Budge, Bandel, Sagardighi, Farakka, Kahalgaon, Barauni, Barh, Muzaffarpur, Anpara and Opra and proposed plants are to be located at Katwa, Pir Painty, Bhagalpur, Lakhiseari, Buxar, Mirzapur, Meja, Bara and Karchhana.
Barge movement

Barring unforeseen developments, the barge movement of imported coal from the Sandheads, the mouth of the Hooghly river, to Farakka plant of NTPC, covering a distance of 650 km or so, should start within a year or so.

The Jindal ITF, the spv floated by the Jindal Group to implement the project, is to invest an estimated Rs 650 crore on acquisition of vessels, creation of handling facilities and construction of two-km long conveyor system from the Farakka jetty to the coal stacking yard of the plant to transport about three million tonnes annually.

“We’ll guarantee minimum required draft in the river to facilitate barge movement”, the spokesman added.

Keywords: Inland Waterways Authority of India, IWAI, coal transportation, river route, Ganga-Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system, Bongaigaon thermal plant,

Sourced:Business Line

Coal importers face huge loss as stocks top 11 MT

Tuesday, 15 Nov, 2011

NEW DELHI: More than 11 million tonnes of imported coal, enough to light up five cities as big as Delhi, are stacked at Indian ports for over four months as power producers refuse to buy costly coal despite acute fuel shortage.

The importers face huge loss as the depreciation of the rupee and the recent fall in international coal prices add to their woes. Industry insiders said coal stockpile at various ports reached record level as traders were initially not willing to sell the commodity at loss. Disinterest among power generating companies to blend imported coal that increases electricity tariff also led to the glut. Industry sources said traders under pressure from creditors wanted to sell quickly.

"About 11.57 million tonnes of coal is lying at the ports. The traders, mostly small and inexperienced ones, bought coal from Indonesia and South Africa at higher prices. But the traders are holding the stock as they would not even be able to recover the costs with the kind of purchase offers being received," a senior official in Bhatia International said.

Global coal prices have come down by $5 a tonne in the past few months due to slowdown in various economies.

Rupee fell to a two-and-half-year low of 50.42 against dollar on Friday on the back of weak industrial production data and a sliding stock market.

Deloitte director consulting (mining) Dipesh Dipu said traders would be in lurch as dollar has become expensive and rent and repayment charges add to the costs.

"The traders placed coal supply orders a few months back when the rupee was trading at about 43-44 to a dollar. When the coal landed at the ports, rupee had started to fall and was about 48 to a dollar. Today, they are receiving enquiries at about 7% less than the prevailing price," a senior official in Adani Enterprises said.

The coal at ports could meet about 70% of the imported coal requirement of the country's largest power producer NTPC that has 35,000-mw generating capacity. NTPC targets to import about 16 million tonnes of coal this fiscal.

A senior NTPC official said the company was blending 10-15% of imported coal at most of its stations, but there were no buyers for expensive power generated by burning imported coal.

Jindal Power's RS Sharma said this could be a good opportunity for power companies to procure imported coal at low prices, but there was no demand for costly electricity. He said blending 10% of the imported fuel rises electricity tariff by 35-40 paise. Cash strapped distribution utilities were resorting to load shedding rather than purchasing electricity.

A senior power ministry official said even if companies get imported coal at low cost, most private power producers did not have enough domestic coal to blend. Indian power plants can accommodate only up to 15% of imported coal that has to be blended with domestic coal.

(sourced ET)

Indian coal ministry to soon put 51 to 54 blocks for bidding

Tuesday, 15 Nov 2011

Faced with an alarming coal crisis on the back of higher import cost and fewer resources within the country, coal ministry is planning to come out with a list of 51 to 54 coal blocks with resource potential in excess of 11 billion tonne by the end of this month. The ministry is expected to begin the tendering process in next couple of moths.

Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal union minister of coal told Financial Chronicle that "I can confirm that the ministry is has identified in excess of 50 blocks with resource potential over 11 billion tonnes. But these blocks have not come for my clearance yet."

The minister said the blocks would be given to public and private sector companies. Mr Jaiswal said that "Our intention is to provide Coal India with sufficient stock that it can take care of its needs for the next 30 years. While the remainder would be given to the state and the public sector companies and the remaining to the private sector companies for captive use.”

The whole bidding process would be completed in next two-three months, after which the E auction process would be started. Mr Jaiswal said that “Though 10% of CIL's coal is already given through e auction, we would provide e auction on priority basis to power companies like NTPC if they can take coal by road. The coal would also be available to cement and steel companies.”

People close to the development told Financial Chronicle that 51 blocks which have been identified are mostly in Jharkhand, Orissa, Chhattisgarh and West Bengal and the remaining distributed across various states like Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh.

Out of 51 blocks on offer, only seven blocks are fully explored while the rest of them are regionally or partially explored. These 51 blocks identified by the ministry are from 17 coalfields, some of them being Talcher (6 blocks), Godavari (3 blocks), Hasdeo-Arand (3 blocks), Mand Raigarh (5 blocks) and Raniganj (8 blocks).

An industry official told FC that the draft published by ministry of coal requires some clarity on four bidding options provided to bidders.

The draft specifies four options for competitive bidding first, a one time bullet payment, second, a payment linked to production, third option would consider a one time bullet payment with weightage given to parameters like same state priority. The fourth and the last option would look at production linked payment with weightage to current power or steel or fertilizer generation capacity.

According to the ministry of coal website there are 229 (148 existing and 81 newly identified) coal blocks for allocation to specified end users and government. The 208 coal blocks have so far been allocated to eligible companies. So far, production has commenced in 26 coal blocks (14 private and 12 public) and the production from these coal blocks for the year 2009-10 was 35.313 million tonnes and for the year 2010-11 (up to December, 2010 prov) was million tonnes as reported by the Coal comptroller’s office.

(sourced from mydigitalfc)

NTPC loosing Rs 10.40 cr/day due to litigation over Rs 10,000 cr boiler contract

Tuesday, 8 Nov, 2011

NEW DELHI: State-run NTPC has lost Rs 1,900 crore due to six months' delay in award of an equipment tender related to power projects worth Rs 53,000 crore because of a court battle over the award of the contract, company sources said.

The company has estimated a revenue loss of Rs 10.40 crore per day as it awaits Supreme Court's verdict for award of Rs 10,000 crore boiler contract. NTPC had disqualified Ansaldo Caldaie from the equipment supply tender but on March 1 the Delhi high court had ruled against NTPC's decision to disqualify Ansaldo Caldaie India, a 73% subsidiary of Gammon India. NTPC subsequently approached the Supreme Court.

Apex Court had turned down NTPC's plea to go ahead with the bidding procedure before final judgment. "The estimated cost of these projects is approximately Rs 53,000 crore and each day delay of these projects cause a generation loss of approximately 148 million units of electricity. This will cause approximately Rs 10.40 crore per day loss on return on equity employed," a senior NTPC official said.

Delay in the judgment is holding up five power projects at a time when the country faces a 14% energy deficit. About 7,260-mw generation capacity is proposed to be set up by NTPC benefiting energy-starved states like Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

The matter has not come up for discussion after summer vacations of the Supreme Court though it was sought to be disposed off by July 20. Sources said the matter had been listed in the court's agenda several times but could not be taken up for deliberations for lack of time. The case was last listed on Oct 13 in the court's agenda.

Ansaldo was disqualified in the first round of the bidding of the boiler contract while Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd, Larsen & Toubro and BGR Energy qualified. NTPC had disqualified Ansaldo Caldaie from the bulk tender saying it does not have competence to supply evaporator, water wall - a critical component in boilers. Ansaldo said supplying self-designed evaporators' was not mentioned as qualifying criteria in NTPC notice inviting tender.

(sourced Economic Times)

NTPC to invite bids for long-term coal imports in 2-3 months

Tuesday, 8 Nov, 2011 |Agency PTI

NEW DELHI: To meet its rising fuel demand, country's largest power producer NTPC plans to seek bids in next two to three months for long-term supply of imported coal of up to 20 million tonnes per annum.

"We will seek bids for supply of imported coal for a period of 15-20 years. The amount will be up to 20 million tonnes per year," NTPC CMD Arup Roy Choudhury told reporters here today on the sidelines of a CII conference.

He said bids wills be invited in next two to three months.

According to Choudhury, NTPC needs to securities imported coal, which accounts for about 10 per cent of the company's total requirements.

Recently, severe coal shortages due to multiple factors had hurt power generation at various NTPC plants.

"As of now, our plants are generating the full (power) as demanded from us," he said.

Noting that imported coal would not be the solution for the country due to its cost, he said that domestic coal production needs to be increased.

"The main issue is whether the power we generate is affordable or not," he noted.

State-run NTPC has an installed capacity of over 35,000 MW.

(sourced ET)

Coal minister assure uninterrupted supply of coal to power plants

Tuesday, 08 Nov 2011

The Coal Ministry has assured uninterrupted supply of coal to power plants hit by shortfalls in supply of the fuel, but while quantities will be earmarked for the generation companies, they will have to secure their requirement through competitive bidding.

Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal coal minister said that "We are open to continue offering e-auction coal for power plants. We can also earmark coal for them to ensure availability. But they have to buy at the auction price. I have told NTPC about this.”

With around 30 power plants running with critical coal stocks, state run Coal India had diverted an additional 10% of its output, or 4 million tonnes, for e-auction to tide over a power crisis in October.

That month, power companies had to buy coal meant for e-auction at a price almost 40 per cent higher than the notified price.

The Power Ministry has been lobbying to stop the e auction of coal on account of short supply to power plants. This would have impacted CIL, as the miner sells about 10 to 11% of its coal output through the e-auction route, which accounts for between 25 to 30% of its total annual revenue.

(Sourced from ET)

Hike in import duty on power equipments will hurt us: NTPC

Thu, Nov 03, 2011 | Source : CNBC-TV18

India is in the midst of a massive power crisis with shortage of coal being cited as one of the key reasons. However, speaking to CNBC-TV18, Arup Roy Choudhury, CMD of state-run power generator NTPC said, things have definitely improved in the last couple of weeks.

The mining space was under severe stress of late with a barrage of issues ranging from political agitation to worker strikes. “We also had the aftereffect of the monsoon season to deal with,” Choudhury said adding. “…but all seems well going forward, and the generations have again picked up.”

NTPC’s plant load factor or PLF is up over 90%, informed Choudhury. He expects power generation to be much better in the third quarter compared to the previous one.

On the issue of imported coal, Choudhury said, it is not a viable option for Indian power producers. “We have to look at power generation through domestic coal,” he stated.

An important government meeting is scheduled today to consider imposing duty on imported power equipment. According to Choudhury, any increase in import duty will be a negative for NTPC. “It will have a direct ramification on power prices,” he added.

Last week, boosted by a better-than-expected top line growth, NTPC posted a 15% rise in net profit at Rs 2,424 crore during the second quarter of the current fiscal.

Below is the edited transcript of Choudhury’s interview with CNBC-TV18. Also watch the accompanying video.

Q: How bad is the coal shortage situation now? Is it a bit better than how it was three weeks back when we were hearing things like companies are working with one week supply or do things remain as difficult as that?

A: Well has definitely improved. If one can see how supply from our stations are growing. We had a critical situation where we had everything coming at one go. We had the Telangana agitation, Coal India’s strike for a day. We also had after effect of heavy monsoon. So that is over now and generations have picked up again. It is looking good at the moment.

Q: Will PLFs go up significantly now?

A: As of now today our PLFs are more than 90%.

Q: Do you see a temporary respite or a durable solution to the raw material issue because these things keep coming back and some of the private producers are still talking about fairly tight supply?

A: I don’t think I should make a bigger comment. But NTPC is a generating company and we have demonstrated time and again that with everything being available we are able to generate at the highest level.

Internationally also we are the number one company in capacity utilisation. But the main fear is coal and I don’t think imported coal is a solution because it increases the cost of power. So we have to look at domestic coal mining and exploit our reserves.

Q: We also hear that the Coal Ministry is almost set to restore the five captive coal block allotments to NTPC in a week but earlier there was a talk of cancellation on ground of delays in development. Have you heard anything on that front?

A: Yes you are right. It is going to get restored any day. We have been given connection for another 8,000 megawatt capacity. We received a letter saying that we will be given captive mines for that. So that improves our position. We will be able to do a majority of our own coal needs through our domestic mining in the next three to four years.

Q: There is an important meeting today in afternoon where the government is meeting to consider imposing duty on imported power equipment. If that comes through how could it affect companies like you who use such equipment? Could it be negative?

A: Well we are driving at reducing the cost of power. One of the important components is fixed cost which goes by cost of imported equipments or equipments. There is already a 15% purchase preference which is being enjoyed by domestic suppliers. Any increase beyond this is only going to load price of electricity.

NTPC projects in WB Bihar and Orissa worst hit by coal shortage - CEA

Wednesday, 02 Nov 2011

Press Trust of India reported that state run NTPC's power projects in West Bengal, Bihar and Orissa are the worst affected in the eastern region due to the ongoing coal supply crisis as actual generation at these plants is much lower than targeted.

A Central Electricity Authority official said “Problem in the eastern region power plants of NTPC is mainly due to coal shortage and coal handling problems,"

He told “Eastern Coalfields is supplying coal to NTPC's eastern region plants. Coal transportation, which is through railways, is a problem, therefore, the hiccups.”

The coal at these project sites is supplied by Eastern Coalfields Ltd, a subsidiary of state owned Coal India.

(Sourced from PTI)

Coal ministry to restore 5 captive coal block allotments to NTPC

Wednesday, 02 Nov 2011

BS reported that in a major development for Maharatna power generator NTPC Limited, the coal ministry is set to restore its five captive coal block allotments in a week.

The blocks were cancelled earlier this year on grounds of delays.

The move would boost the plans of the INR 57,000 crore company to more than double generation capacity to 75,000 MW by ramping up in house coal production to 47 million tonnes per annum, one fourth of its coal requirement over the next five years.

The decision has been prompted by a mix of factors including an urgent need to bridge the burgeoning gap in coal demand and supply, firm commitment of rapid development of the blocks from NTPC, the huge investments already made by the company on power projects linked to the blocks, pressure from the power ministry for restoring the blocks and the recent coal supply crisis.

Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal coal minister told Business Standard that "NTPC has assured us of quicker development of blocks now. Also, there have been many requests from the power minister. We are likely to give the blocks back as soon as the report of the review committee is submitted in four to five days." He also added NTPC, being a government company, deserves preference in this matter.

An intra ministerial review committee headed by coal secretary Mr Alok Perti has been reviewing the ministry's decision, taken in May 2011, to cancel 14 coal blocks and one lignite block awarded to six public sector undertakings, including NTPC.

Apart from rejuvenating the company’s fuel securing strategy, the decision would also set at rest months of uncertainty over the progress of the government’s captive coal production plan, as NTPC's blocks account for a major chunk of such reserves allotted so far.

The five cancelled blocks Chatti Bariatu, Chatti Bariatu (South), Kerandari, Brahmani and Chichiro Patsimal have combined geological reserves exceeding 3 billion tonne. The first three blocks are meant to supply fuel to two power plants of 1,320 MW capacity each Barh in Bihar and Tanda stage II in Uttar Pradesh. Both the projects, when commissioned, would require over 10 million tonnes of coal annually. The other two blocks are meant to feed the expansion of Kahalgaon power project in Bihar and Farakka in West Bengal.

Waiting For Approval

Coal block	Date of allocation	Target date	Status of progress
Pakri Barwadih	Oct '04	Apr '08	Environmental nod granted, awaited, order for coal handling plant awarded
Chatti Bariatu	Jan '06	Jul '09	Environmental nod granted, forest clearance awaited
Kerandari	Jan '06	Jul '09	Environmental nod granted, forest clearance awaited
Talaipalli	Jan '06	Mar '12	Environmental nod and forest clearance awaited
Dulanga	Jan '06	Sep '11	Environmental nod and forest clearance awaited
Brahman & Chichiro Patsimal	Jan '06	Oct '11	JV company with CIL incorporated in April 2010, exploration underway
Chatti Bariatu (South)	Jul '07	Jan '11	MoU with Mineral Exploration Corp being finalized for exploration, application for land acquisition being submitted

Source - NTPC

An NTPC official informed that almost a half of the INR 6,600 crore investment in Barh has already been made. He added that "Also, Tanda stage II is in advanced stage of progress and the first unit is expected to be commissioned in early 2012-13."

NTPC was awarded a total of eight coal blocks over past seven years with reserves of around 5 billion tonnes. All these were expected to come into production between April 2008 and March 2012. However, not a single block has commenced production so far.

The review exercise could be extended to the cancelled blocks of Damodar Valley Corporation, another PSU under the power ministry, and Jharkhand State Electricity Board. The coal ministry had cancelled DVC’s Saharpur Jamarpani block in Jharkhand and Gondulpara coal block in the same state, jointly allocated to DVC and Tenughat Vidyut Nigam.

(sourced from Business-Standard)

Coal ministry to display list of 54 coal blocks for allocation within 15 days

Sat,Oct29, 2011

PTI reported that the coal ministry will display within 15 days the list of 54 coal blocks to be allocated through competitive bidding and government nomination.

A 3 official said that "In another 15 days, we will come out with the list of 54 coal blocks to be given away through competitive bidding and government dispensation route." He added that the list of blocks will be displayed on the ministry's website.

He further said that these 54 blocks will be hopefully allocated in 2011.

Earlier the ministry had indicated that certain blocks out of 54 acreages that were tipped to be put up for competitive bidding will be awarded on a nomination basis. The government had not identified the reserves to be given either through nomination or competitive bidding.

The official said that "The exercise for identifying the blocks is under way."

In September 2011, the ministry had said it would allocate five blocks to NTPC through the dispensation route to help the state run power generating company meet requirement of its four thermal projects.

Mr Sriprakash Jaiswal coal minister had said in May 2011 that the proposed competitive bidding round for coal blocks in the country would be held soon. The proposal for auctioning the blocks through competitive bidding was first mooted for the first time over two years ago.

(Sourced from PTI)