To meet its rising fuel demand, the country’s largest power producer NTPC plans to seek bids in the next two to three months for long-term supply of imported coal of up to 20 million tonnes per annum.
“We will seek bids for the supply of imported coal for a period of 15-20 years. The amount will be up to 20 million tonnes per year,” NTPC Chairman-cum-Managing Director, Mr Arup Roy Choudhury, told reporters here today on the sidelines of a CII conference.
He said bids wills be invited in the next two to three months.
According to Mr Choudhury, the company needs to securitise imported coal, which accounts for about 10 per cent of the company’s total requirements. Recently, severe coal shortages due to multiple factors had hurt power generation at various NTPC plants.
“As of now, our plants are generating the full (power) as demanded from us,” he said.
Noting that imported coal would not be the solution for the country due to its cost, he said that the domestic coal production needs to be increased.
“The main issue is whether the power we generate is affordable or not,” he noted.
State-run NTPC has an installed capacity of over 35,000 MW.