NTPC to double its production in a decade: CMD

NTPC CMD A.R. Choudhury 

MAHARATNA PSU NTPC has set a target to more than double its current installed capacity to 90,000 MW in the next ten years, says chairman and managing director Arup Roy Choudhury.
At present, country's largest power producer generates 44,398 MW of power from all sources of energy. Out of this, 12,115 MW or 27 percent of the total was added in the last four and a half years.
"We have 23,000 MW under execution, which will be commissioned in the next five years. Another 15,000 MW is under award stage and will complete in seven years and further 8,000 MW is in planning stages and will take about a decade to come up," NTPC...
CMD Arup Roy Choudhury told a news agency.
NTPC, which generates maximum power from coal, plans to include solar energy in its total installed capacity in the coming years.
"We are hoping to do solar power projects even as there are various challenges in executing those plants. Land availability and connectivity with the national and regional transmission grids are the issues related to this segment of electricity generation," Choudhury said.
Last year, NTPC had signed an initial agreement with Andhra Pradesh government for developing 1,000 MW solar power projects in the state.
Apart from solar power, NTPC is also looking at brownfield expansion by acquiring some stranded public or private sector power projects.
"It is a nascent stage, but all I can reveal is that we have identified a few projects in Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh and the due diligence is on," he said.
NTPC is reported to be in talks with various entities, including L&T and Shapoorji Pallonji Group, to take over their distressed assets.
NTPC is the largest power utility in India with an installed power capacity of 43,143 MW and an additional 23839 MW capacity under construction. To realize the vision of becoming a world class power major, NTPC plans to become a 1,28,000 MW company by 2032. NTPC plans to add 14,038 MW during the 12th Plan period (2012-17) and the Maharatna PSU has cash reserves of Rs.16,867.7 crore as on 31 March this year.