State-run power giant NTPC on Wednesday registered a lower 7.5 per cent net profit at Rs 2,468.72 crore for the third quarter compared to a year ago due to higher fuel cost.

The company spent Rs 12,080.43 crore towards fuel in the quarter ended December 2016 as against Rs 10,580.28 crore in the same period in 2015.

NEW DELHI: The Nifty50 came under pressure around its crucial resistance level of 8,800 on Tuesday, but the momentum is still on the upside and there was plenty of action in individual stocks.

While the S&P BSE Sensex slipped nearly 100 points on Tuesday, over 200 stocks on BSE and nearly 100 stocks on NSE generated buy signals on the technical charts based on ‘Stochastics Oscillators’.

An audit report by the Comptroller and the Auditor General of India (CAG), tabled in Parliament on Friday, indicated structural fuel management inefficiencies at coal-based power plants of NTPC. This resulted in increased fuel cost of power stations and cost of energy to consumers. The auditor said that through its 13 specified power stations, NTPC incurred additional expenditure of Rs 6,869.95 crore over 2010-16 in procurement of domestic coal itself.

We interacted with key officials of Rajasthan Rajya Vidyut Udpadan Nigam (RRVUNL) on the proposed takeover of its 2,320MW (4x250MW and 2x660MW) Chabra power plant by NTPC. Key attributes of the subcritical plant include: station heat rate (SHR) of 2312.3kcal/kWh which is difficult to achieve, if not impossible, due to which the variable cost is not within the RERC norms; past three month’s average PLF of ~90% builds in seasonality; approved capital cost of R50 million/MW is transfered to NTPC at book value (BV), and equity value of R7 billion adjusted to the extent of normalised SHR.

NTPC, Hindustan Zinc, Adani Power, Tata Steel and Steel Authority of India (SAIL) were among 24 stocks from the BSE500 and Small-cap indices hitting their respective 52-week highs in intra-day trade.

Dalmia Bharat, Datamatics Global Services, Mastek, Pokarna, Sonata Software, Graphite India and Sterlite Technologies were other stocks that hit their 52-week highs.

National Aluminium Company Limited (Nalco) and NTPC Ltd have entered into an MoU to form a joint venture namely NTPC-Nalco Power Company (NNPC) for developing power projects and other business collaborations in India.

The JV plans to set up its first power plant at Gajamara (Odisha) with a capacity of 2,400 MW (3X800 MW), at an estimated investment of Rs 14,000 crore. The proposed super critical power plant will supply uninterrupted power to Nalco’s smelter at Angul. The process for acquisition of 1,600 acres of land in Gajamara has already commenced.

State-run NTPC has lined up investments worth Rs 2648 crore for developing three coal blocks in Odisha.

The Maharatna public sector undertaking (PSU) plans to invest Rs 684 crore in the Dulanga coal block, which is linked to its Dariplalli super thermal power project that has the capacity to generate 1,600 Mw of power. The power project, which is supposed to come up in Sundargarh district, will attract an investment of Rs 12,532 crore from NTPC.

NEW DELHI: Marking its foray into wind power generation, state-owned NTPC has partnered with Inox Wind for a 50-MW wind project to be deployed in Gujarat.

"Inox Wind Ltd... has bagged an order for a 50-mw wind power project to be deployed in the state of Gujarat from NTPC Ltd" a press release said.

Odisha attracted investment proposals worth R2,03,235 crore at the two-day Make in Odisha conclave, chief minister Naveen Patnaik said, as the state seeks to cash in on its huge mineral reserves while attempting to reach out to companies in other sectors as well.

The proposed investments have the potential to create 1,40,000 jobs in the state, Patnaik said at the concluding ceremony of the conclave, organised by the state and the department of industrial policy and promotion (DIPP). NTPC, SAIL, Tata Steel, Indian Oil, Adani Group, JSPL, Paradeep Phosphates and Mahanadi Coalfields are among the major investors.

Continuation of the Payment Security Mechanism (PSM) is credit positive for NTPC, Moody’s Investors Service said. The Payment Security Mechanism is based on tripartite agreements between the central government, state governments and the Reserve Bank, and these agreements ensure payments to NTPC in the event of default by state-owned distribution companies, Moody’s said in statement.

Current agreements with various states expired in October 2016 and the Centre has given approval for their extension, NTPC had announced recently.

Inviting Real Estate Agents, Job Placements Agents, Educational Institutes, Software Service Providers, Real Estate Builders, Marriage Bureaus, Travel Agents, Restaurant Owners, Health & Fitness Centers and other Local Businesses to Post a FREE Classified Advertisement on Cootera.com Classifieds Website.