NTPC in talks to buy South African coal block

State-run NTPC said today it may buy a coal asset in South Africa to feed its expanding capacity and is in intial stages of discussion for the buyout deal. 

The company plans to buy at least one overseas coal mine in this fiscal in order to meet the shortfall in domestic supplies. Its projects are facing acute coal shartages. And as the firm plans to add more than 20,000 Mw of capacity by 2012, it is exploring ways to secure a stable source of energy.

"We are in preliminary stages of discussion," NTPC CMD R S Sharma said here, refusing to divulge further details.

The country's largest power generation utility is also scouting for coal blocks mines in Australia and Mozambique. It is looking at blocks that can give up to 20 million tonnes of dry fuel per year.

Earlier, the company appointed Australian firm Macquarie as consultant to do the due diligence for acquiring coal mines in Indonesia. NTPC would buy a minority stake in the Kalimantau coal mines in Indonesia to achieve fuel security.