| State-run NTPC plans to invest $3.3 billion next year, most of it on coal-fired generation capacity, Chairman T. Sankaralingam said. |
| India's government estimates the nation loses an estimated 2 percentage points of annual growth to electricity shortages and has plans to add 78,577 megawatts by 2012 to help beat peak hour shortages of up to 13 per cent. NTPC plans to raise its output to 51,000 megawatts in the next five years. |
| "We are trying our utmost to ensure we meet our capacity addition targets keeping in mind the growing demand,'' Sankaralingam said. NTPC will spend $2.8 billion in the year ending March 2008, the chairman said on December 3. |
| The company will add three new coal-fired units in northern India by March next year, increasing its generation capacity to more than 30,000 megawatts from the current 28,334 megawatts, Sankaralingam said. |
| "Most of this will be coal-fired, considering LNG prices are becoming prohibitive,'' Sankaralingam said. Prices of liquefied natural gas have tripled in the past five years to a record $10 a million British thermal units because of equipment shortages and surging costs. |
| The company has decided to postpone plans to set up new gas-fired power projects by two years. |
| "We believe it's a very wrong time to get into the LNG market,'' Sankaralingam said. "We expect prices to settle by 2009-10.'' |
| NTPC is in talks to import natural gas from Nigeria where it is negotiating a contract to build a 700 megawatt gas- fired plant, he said. The company is also in talks to buy coal from Indonesia. |
| NTPC plans to invest as much as $1.3 billion on buying stakes in coal mines abroad, Sankaralingam said. |
| Of this, $127 million will be invested through NTPC's joint venture with state-owned steelmakers Steel Authority of India, Coal India, National Mineral Development Corp and Rashtriya Ispat Nigam, he said. |
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