Disclosing this at a news conference held here on Friday, chairman and managing director, NTPC, Rajender Singh said a formal proposal to this effect has already been made by NTPC and is under consideration of the Bangladesh government.

Singh said surplus power from this project can be transferred to India. The eastern region connectivity plan being undertaken by PowerGrid will help in transferring this surplus power from Bangladesh to India.

A joint committee comprising of officials from Bangladesh and Indian government are currently evaluating the prospects of this project, he added.

"A private gas supplier can also come as the third partner in this project. The proposal is under consideration and we are awaiting response from the Bangladeshi government", Singhsaid.

Commenting on its association with the Petronet LNG joint venture, Singh said NTPC will not settle down with anything less than 26 per cent in this venture. This is as against the 10 per cent stake offered by Petronet LNG to NTPC.

Singh said NTPC would be one of the biggest LNG consumer of this joint venture company and it was not unreasonable on NTPC's part to ask for this stake.

However, he said if NTPC is unable to strike a deal with Petronet LNG, then they will invite bids for the supply of LNG for its gas-based power plants.

On its huge outstandings stuck up with state electricity boards (SEBs), Singh said this continues to be a area of concern for NTPC. As on date, these dues have gone up to a staggering Rs 8,500 crore, including the principal of Rs 5,339.13 crore and a surcharge of Rs 3,199.53 crore.

Singh said the corporation has asked the defaulting states to expedite the payments to avoid rescheduling and the suspension of power to them.

He informed NTPC has mooted a suggestion tothe Centre for a tripartite agreement involving the corporation, the concerned state and Reserve Bank at the time of concluding the power purchase agreement (PPA) specifying Central guarantees.

"We are pursuing this with the Centre so that we can have such agreements while signing the PPA for future power projects. If our proposal of tripartite agreement is accepted by the government, many of our problems will be solved", Singh said.

When PPAs incorporate the conditionality of a tripartite agreement, NTPC would enjoy the right to collect its dues from the RBI in the event of the state governments default in their payments.

On the company's performance in the last fiscal, Singh said NTPC had generated over 106 billion units of electricity during 1997-98, an increase of 7.2 per cent over the previous year's generation.

"NTPC would continue its multi-pronged strategies for capacity addition to maintain and augment its share in the country's installed generating capacity through green field projects,expansion of its existing plants and acquisitions,",Singh said.

Singh said the coal-based stations of NTPC, barring those in the eastern region, achieved a plant load factor of 85.3 per cent against a national PLF average of 64.7 per cent.

"The corporation had to back its units heavily in the eastern region resulting in a low PLF of 45.7 per cent in that region thereby bringing down the average PLF of NTPC station to 75.21 per cent with an availability factor of 85.02 per cent", he added.