The corporations has already chalked out a Rs 60,000 crore plan to increase the installed the capacity to 30,000 mw by the year 2007 from the present 17,737 mw. During the current year, it will add over 1000 mw. It has also set a target of enhancing the capacity to 40,000 mw by 2012.

Addressing a press conference here, chairman and managing director of NTPC, Rajendra Singh said the corporation already has a commitment for Rs 5710 crore from various banks, and financial institutions including ICICI (Rs 2000 crore), IDBI (Rs 1,500 crore), SBI (Rs 500 crore Oriental Bank of Commerce (Rs 500 crore) HDFC (Rs 200 crore) Central Bank of India (Rs 200 crore) and the Bank of Maharashtra (Rs200 crore). From this the power company has to finalisethe disbursement of the first tranche. As for the international borrowing NTPC plans to launch the instrument by the end of the year.

The corporation is also making a case for securitasisation of the arrears due to various state electricity boards (SEBs). As of now NTPC has an outstanding of Rs 11,428 crore (including a surcharge of Rs 4131 crore) as compared to Rs 14,653 crore in March 1999.

With a large equity base until now NTPC was developing the projects on the basis of debt:equity ratio of 50:50 it however has now decided to maintain 70:30 ratio for its future projects. The corporation which had been taking considerable financial assistance from the international funding agencies such as the World Bank and the IMF now plans to raise the finances from internal resources.

"Under the current scenario, it is difficult to expect any aid from these agencies, however, NTPC will approach them at a later date," Singh said, adding that the sanctions have not been lifted yet.

Apart from the capacityenhancement, the power company has also taken a decision a couple of years ago to diversify in related business. These include foray in oil sector, hydro power generation and setting up of ash-based industries to utilise fly ash.

NTPC is one of the equity partner in the two LNG projects, including Pipavav and Petronet LNG projects. For its own project its would need around 7 MTPA of LNG. It has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the ABB of Germany to set up a joint venture to undertake renovation and modernisation contracts from various power plants. The promoters agreement will be signed shortly, Singh said. Besides it also has a joint venture with the Mumbai-based BSES Ltd to undertake the EPC works for various infrastructure projects. NTPC expects to charge around Rs 1.80 per unit for the power generated from its new 500 mw Vindhyahal unit VII, said Rajendra Singh, chairman and managing Director of NTPC. At present the average tariff charged by the corporation is around Rs 1.30 per unit, hesaid.

The final cost will be decided by the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC). The commission, set up in August last year, will decide tariff not only of the central power companies but also of any project which supplies power to more than one states.

The Vindhyachal unit is likely to start commercial production by September, earlier than schedule. Besides, the construction of 500 mw unit VIII of the same station, is also in progress and the unit is expected to be commissioned next year. The power station supplies power to Western region.

Meanwhile, NTPC has also improved it average PLF to 76.6 per cent as against the national average of 64.6 per cent. The corporation has planned a number of new projects these include the coal-fired power stations and the gas-base plants. NTPC which has been supplying cheaper power to several state electricity borads is likely to maintains this trend even after commissioning of its gas-base projects.

INSIGHT
Being operational isenough

With the recievables it has from SEB, it is a tribute to NTPC that it is operational let alone expand. IPPs hype notwithstanding, it is not easy to understand that with expansion plans of NTPC (which in any case has no escrow cover), why can't the refurbishing of existing plants of SEBs be done? It will result in cheaper power but the problem is the public interest litigations.

With IPPs not progressing any faster (with few exceptions) and attempts to ban captive power in at least three states, the more sensible options are being ignored. Is it hard to guess who benefits?

Urmik Chhaya