NTPC will borrow ₹15,000 crore in 2015-16 to fund its expansion plans and set up solar power generation capacity, the company’s Director (Finance) K Biswal said.
“The fund raising plan also includes $750 million through external commercial borrowings. Usually, we borrow 30 per cent of our annual borrowings through overseas funds, which will continue for sometime in the future,” said Biswal.
Acquisition plansPart of the funds will be used to acquire the Patratu power plant in Jharkhand and Satpura in Madhya Pradesh with a combined capacity of 2,000 MW. These are old State Government projects and is expected to cost not more than ₹2,000 crore.
Biswal said as part of NTPC’s plans for backward integration, it will mine for coal from its own coal blocks. For its Pakri Barwadih block in Bihar, the company is expected to soon finalise a mine developer-cum-operator for which Adani Group is in the running.
NTPC expects its coal requirement to be 220 million tonnes by 2017-18. Of this, 10-15 per cent will be met through imports, Biswal said. Its captive mines are expected to bring in 60-70 mt by 2019-20, he added.