NTPC eyes majority stake in Indonesian coal blocks

New Delhi, May 12

NTPC Ltd, the country’s largest power generator, is eyeing majority stakes in one to two Indonesian coal mines and is likely to finalise a deal by the end of the current fiscal.

“We had identified one to two mines in Indonesia… We want to have a majority stake (in the mines) so that we have a control over the production and prices. We have already appointed three merchant bankers for this and our endeavour is to finalise the stake purchase by the end of this financial year,” NTPC’s Chairman and Managing Director, Mr R.S. Sharma, told reporters here. He, however, declined to give the names of the bankers and other details.

NTPC has a generation capacity of 29,144 MW. It plans to add 22,430 MW by 2012 and take the total capacity to 75,000 MW in 2017 to meet the fast expanding power demand in the country. NTPC generates most of its power from coal and has said it will need up to 130 million tonnes (mt) in the current fiscal, up from 122 mt a year ago.

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