NTPC plans over Rs 20,000-crore capital expenditure in FY 2014

State-run thermal power generating company, NTPC, today said it has planned a capital expenditure of over Rs 20,000 crore during the current fiscal for its expansion.

"We had a capex of Rs 19,926 crore during the previous financial year (2012-13) and plan to raise it to Rs 20,200 crore this fiscal (2013-14)," said Arup Roy Choudhury, chairman and managing director of NTPC, while addressing the shareholders today at the company's Annual General Meeting here.

The firm added 4,170 MW of capacity including 1,000 MW through its joint venture projects in the last fiscal. The company's power generation capacity has reached 41,187 MW.

The government sold 9.5 per cent of its stake in the public unit last year. Following this disinvestment, the government shareholding in NTPC now stands at 75 per cent.

The offer for sale garnered over Rs 11,400 crore for the government. NTPC awarded contracts for work of 8,521 MW capacity projects, Mr Choudhury said.

The CMD said the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) has restored coal linkage to the company's proposed 1,980 MW North Karanpura power plant in Jharkhand.

The Coal Ministry in 2008 had withdrawn fuel linkages to the NTPC plant following a tiff with the power ministry over the location of the project.

The government also withdrew the de-allocation of NTPC coal blocks in Jharkhand -- Chatti-Bariatu, Kerandari and Chatti-Bariatu (South).

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is scheduled to dedicate the PSU's Sipat thermal power project in Chhattisgarh to the nation on Thursday.

The 2,980 MW Sipat project has three units of 660 MW in stage I and 2 units of 500 MW in stage II, which are already operational.

At present, NTPC's total installed power generation capacity is over 41,000 MW.