NTPC has extended the deadline for its global tender for importing five million tonne of coal by another 15 days.
The techno-commercial bids were to be opened on May 9 and 10.
Official sources said the decision was taken to ensure better participation, after a request from vendors at a recent pre-bid meeting.
NTPC is looking for long-term contracts for sourcing coal to ensure that it has secure fuel supplies for projects, and to protect itself from volatility in pricing.
Earlier, coal was imported for NTPC through Central public sector undertakings like MMTC Ltd and STC Ltd. Since March 2012, the company has started procuring imported coal through international competitive bidding. For this, no service charge is paid to the private party.
Recently, NTPC had contracted Adani Group to source 4 million tonne of coal from overseas to meet its requirements for 2011-12.
On April 4, NTPC floated a tender for importing five million tonne of coal for its 14 stations. The stations include: Talcher Thermal & Talcher Kaniha Power Plants (1.25 million tonne), Farakka and Kahalgaon Power Plants (1.25 million tonne), as well as Simhadri and Ramagundam Power Plants (0.9 million tonne).
It is also seeking 0.9 million tonne for Dadri, Rihand, Singrauli, Tanda, Unchahar and Vidhyachal Power Plant, and 0.7 million tonne for Korba and Sipat Power Plants.
For 2011-12, NTPC's coal requirement was about 164 million tonne. Of the total, about 114 million tonne come from Coal India and about 16 million tonne from its subsidiaries, SCCL and ECL. NTPC meets the remaining 10-15 per cent of its needs through imported coal, which is also expensive.
However, with capacity addition, this requirement is expected to go up, official sources said.
Shortage in domestic fuel supply has affected NTPC's generation productivity by 10-15 cent annually. The company, at present, has 15 coal-based, seven gas-based and six joint venture power stations and plans to be a 128,000 MW company by 2032.