NTPC near deal for Jharkhand coal block

State-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has completed the paperwork for acquisition of 9,000 acre at its Pakri-Barwadih coal block in Jharkhand.“We have already reached an agreement with the locals and district administration and have even arrived at the price. We are just disbursing payments,” B P Singh, director, projects, said at an investor meet on Monday.

He did not mention the cost of acquisition.The company got the initial clearance from the ministry of environment and forests (MoEF) for the project in May and expects the final nod this month.It will zero in on the mine developer-cum-operator for the mine in a month, said Singh.

Mining at the block, allotted to NTPC in 2004, was expected to begin last year, but owing to various delays, it will now begin in 2012. Last year, Singh had said at a conference that land acquisition was getting delayed because some land ownership records in Jharkhand dated back to 1912. The mine has reserves of 15 mt.

India’s biggest power generator is also close to completing land buys at its two other adjacent blocks, which are spread over 6,000 acre, and is awaiting MoEF clearance for the two.It also has one block each in Orissa and Chhattisgarh, which together have reserves of up to 35 mt.Moreover, NTPC is developing two other coal blocks in Jharkhand with Coal India.

The company has a coal requirement of 156 mt this fiscal. Currently, it is dependent on CIL for 90% of its coal demand and has to import the rest. By 2017, however, it plans to meet 20% of its requirement from captive mines.Over 80% of NTPC’s installed capacity of 31,704 mw is coal-fired and the rest gas-based.