The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) will soon enter into power distribution and coal mining business, Union power minister Suresh Prabhu said.
"I have asked NTPC to integrate its operation backward by entering into coal mining", Prabhu, who was here on a two day visit to Orissa, said.
He said the company has initiated steps to take up power distribution work in different parts of the country. A new division is being created by the company to look after this business, he added.
NTPC is currently studying the operations of 13 distribution circles in four states, namely Madhya Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, Haryana and Maharashtra, with the aim to take them over under Accelerated Power Development Programme (APDP) on an experimental basis.
On the basis of its experience in these circles, the company will decide on the future of entering distribution operation in full fledged manner elsewhere in the country, Shankar Lingam, director operation of the company, said.
In the distribution business, he said, though the manpower available is very competent, there are shortcomings with regard to technical and financial aspects which have bogged down the sector for long.
On coal mining, he said, NTPC intends to enter into joint venture with the Coal India Ltd (CIL). However, no concrete proposal has been made yet.
He said, NTPC has chalked out plans to add 21,000 mw to its present capacity of 19,000 mw by 2012. This will require a huge investment of about Rs one lakh crore of which 30 per cent -- about Rs 30,000 crore will be in the form of equity. This means the company has to mobilise about Rs 3,000 crore annually from the internal resources to fund new projects.
However, the mounting arrears against the state electricity boards for non-payment of dues have become a major concern for the company. The arrears now stands at over Rs 20,000 crore of which Rs 13,000 crore is towards sale of power and Rs 7,000 crore is surcharge.
For effective realisation of dues, NTPC is pressing for entering into agreements with SEBs which prescribes for cut in plan allocation of a state if its electricity board fails to pay the power purchase dues. The agreement is tripartite in nature with the Centre as the third party. Such an agreement has already been signed by the Andhra Pradesh government and proposals to enter into similar pacts with another nine state governments are now in various stages of finalisation, he added.
