Jaiprakash Power offers to sell Nigrie project to NTPC

NEW DELHI: Jaiprakash Power Ventures Ltd has offered its Nigrie power project to NTPC for acquisition while State Bank of India has proposed stake sale in three stressed plants of Bajaj Lalitpur, Jaypee Infratech and Jindal India Thermal to the state-run firm.

NTPC had invited bids from promoters, lenders and financial intermediaries offering their domestic coal-based power plants in November last year.

NTPC, India's largest power producer, received four technical bids on Friday, the last day for responding to the tender, a government official said.

The company was, however, expecting a higher response from the private sector as there are over 34,000-mw of stressed assets in the power sector, the official said. Estimates show that of the `9 lakh crore worth of stressed assets in the country, more than half is in the power generation space.

The tender is part of NTPC's strategy for inorganic growth. As per its current plan, NTPC will only look at running power plants commissioned in the last three years which are close to any coal source and whose cost of power generation is less than its own generation cost.

The average cost of electricity generation from NTPC stations last financial year was `3.19 per unit.

NTPC Limited