The state-owned NTPC has managed to bring down its cost of electricity generation by an average 39.5 paise while for the Mauda project, it was a decline of Rs 1.65 per unit, mainly because of improvement in coal quality and supply.
Data available with NTPC showed that the overall cost of power generation has come down to below Rs 2 last fiscal, driven by improved quality of coal and its supplies, a power ministry official said.
The overall cost of power generation of the company has come down by 39.5 paise. It does not include taxes and cess primarily imposed to finance protection of environment, the official explained. According to the data, the overall cost of power production for the company stood at Rs 2.01 per unit in 2014- 15, which has declined to Rs 1.94 in April-February of 2016- 17. Elaborating, he said the actual reduction was 6.4 paise per unit, but if increased levies and charges are taken into account, the total drop in power output cost translates into 39.5 paise.
The data further showed that NTPC's Mauda project registered an overall fall in cost of power generation at Rs 1.65 per unit, taking into account the impact of revision in levies and charges. The official explained that new projects and plants with high dependence of imported coal have benefited the most. The other plants which gained due to improved quality and supplies of coal are Barh Stage-II (Rs 1.24 per unit), Badarpur (Rs 1.16) and Tanda (93.6 paise).
The official said the NTPC plants represent a quarter of thermal power generation projects in the country and indicate an encouraging trend in power generation cost.
No plans to acquire coal mines overseas: NLC CMD
NLC India Ltd has no plans to acquire coal mines overseas as the three blocks alloted to it by the government were sufficient to meet fuel requirement of its power plants, a top company official said.
"We have no plans to acquire coal mines overseas as three coal blocks alloted to us – two in Odisha and one in Jharkhand – were enough to meet the coal requirement of our power plants," NLC India Ltd Chairman and Managing Director S K Acharya said. The company would continue to focus on the blocks allotted to it in line with government of India's mission of 'Make in India'
Company's coal-based plants "with 1,000 mw capacity were running, while 2,000 mw (plants) were under construction and around 4,000 mw were in the planning stage," the CMD said. Around two years back, "we had invited expression of interest...to find out commercial viability and to find out whether it would make good business sense for us to go abroad but now we are not thinking that," he said. The main activity of NLC India is mining (coal and lignite) and power generation of thermal and renewable energy.
The company's present mining capacity (lignite) is 30.6 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) and the present power generation capacity, including JVs is 3,240 mw.