Highly placed sources told The Financial Express that these companies have been invited to make detailed joint venture presentations in front of NTPC's bigwigs on Wednesday.

Sources disclosed that NTPC was considering offering a part of the equity stake to the financial institutions in the venture. The R&M project was earlier conceived as a 50:50 venture.

Sources said that though the stake of both the NTPC and the selected joint venture partner will remain the same, their holding pattern will change. As for instance, one possibility could be that NTPC and the other partner hold 40 per cent each and the balance 20 per cent is offered to the financial institutions.

Following the presentations, NTPC's internal committee will examinethe best deal amongst these proposals. The whole process of selecting the eligible joint venture partner will take a month's time after which a new joint venture company will be formed.

Incidentally, all the six shortlisted parties are leaders in the field of R&M and it is going to be a tough selection for the NTPC board. Tata-TVA, a joint venture between Tata's and the Tennesse Valley Authority, already has a big presence in undertaking R&M jobs worldwide. ABB and GEC Alsthom also have technical expertise in R&M and are leading equipment suppliers in the power sector. The French major, EDF is also undertaking R&M jobs. During the recent visit of the president of France, EDF announced its plans to enter the distribution sector and start R&M work in India. The other two companies from Australia and Korea are also well-known in the field.

NTPC's R&M joint venture will face stiff competition from the existing players in the market of which Siemens-BHEL joint venture called Power Plant Performances Ltd isbeing viewed as the biggest competitor.

The new joint venture company of NTPC will undertake R&M jobs of old and under performing power stations, which have already been identified by NTPC.

In addition to this, NTPC is also contemplating entering into other joint ventures which include foray into hydro sector, mining, LNG re-gasification business and non-conventional energy sector.

It has recently joined hands with the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation (ONGC) for setting up a 300 MW power project at Hazira.

NTPC has also agreed to part-finance the Coal India Limited (CIL) to the tune of Rs 400 crore in a phased manner for development of Bhubneshwari mines of Mahanadi Coalfields Limited (MCL) for securing coal for Talcher expansion and another Rs 400 crore for development of mines to supply coal to its Sipat power project.