Kolkata: Coal India subsidiary Mahanadi Coalfields Ltd (MCL) is planning to form a joint venture with power producer NTPC Ltd to develop the 1,600-MW pithead plant in Odisha's Sundergarh district, a top CIL official said on Monday.
MCL has proposed to form a partnership with NTPC to run the plant, and is open to offer up to 49 per cent stake in the Rs 13,000-crore thermal power plant, newly-appointed Coal India Chairman A K Jha said at an interaction with the media on his first day in office.
"We had initial discussions with NTPC and they have shown interest. Unless we retain 51 per cent stake, there will legal problem as all the licenses are in MCL's name," Jha said.
The chairman said another pithead power plant is also planned at North Karanpura under Central Coalfields Ltd in Jharkhand.
The mining major said the capex for the current fiscal was pegged at Rs 9,500 crore, but if the MCL pithead power plant gathers steam, the expenditure plan could go up by another Rs 1,000-2,000 crore.
The MSL plant would be set up by Mahanadi Basin Power Ltd, a fully-owned MCL subsidiary. The project has got the nod of the High Level Clearance Authority (HLCA), the apex body for investment approvals in Odisha.
MCL aims to use coal from Basundhara area in Sundergarh district, having reserves of 6.8 billion tonne. The annual coal extraction from this mine is set to touch 40 million tonne per annum in the coming years.