India’s largest power generation utility NTPC Ltd is in talks with state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd (SAIL) to sell its stake in NTPC-SAIL Power Co. Pvt. Ltd (NSPCL), the 50:50 joint venture to the steel maker, two people aware of the development said, seeking anonymity.
The development comes at a time when NTPC is pivoting towards green energy with a growing focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing. “NTPC is looking to offload its stake in NSPCL and is in talks with SAIL,” said one of the two people cited above.
Queries to the spokespersons of NTPC and SAIL on Thursday afternoon remained unanswered till press time.
NSPCL, which was formed in March 2001, supplies electricity to Chhattisgarh, besides Union territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu, and SAIL. The JV took over the captive power plants of SAIL’s steel plants at Durgapur in West Bengal, Rourkela steel in Odisha and Bhilai in Chhattisgarh.
NTPC is also preparing for initial public offerings (IPOs) for its clean energy subsidiaries NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Ltd (NVVN) and NTPC Renewable Energy Ltd (NTPC REL) and has appointed merchant bankers to run the process, Mint had reported. It has also floated a global tender for setting up a 1GWh grid-scale battery storage system.
Torrent Power has placed the highest bid for power distribution companies (discoms) of Dadra and Nagar Haveli, and Daman and Diu as part of the discom privatization exercise for the eight Union territories.
The government on Monday unveiled the ₹6 trillion National Monetization Pipeline (NMP) for leasing infrastructure assets of the government ministries and state-run firms. The power sector comprises 15% of the total assets on offer.
While power transmission assets totalling 28,608 circuit km for monetization account for ₹45,200 crore, the power generation assets totaling 6 gigawatts (GW) of hydropower and renewable energy assets account for ₹39,832 crore.
“Monetization of coal and gas assets has not been considered during the NMP period. The interest of global investors in these assets is limited by the strict ESG guidelines under which they operate and the uncertain long-term potential of the assets,” said NITI Aayog.
NTPC plans to reach 60 GW renewable energy capacity by 2032 from the existing 4GW and invest ₹1 trillion between 2019 and 2024 to become a 130GW power producer by 2032. NTPC Group posted a net profit of $1.85 billion in FY21. It has also announced its target of 10% reduction in net energy intensity as part of its energy compact goals. The public sector unit has an installed capacity of around 67GW across 70 power projects, and 18GW under construction.
