NTPC rallies over 4%, hits fresh 52-week high on coal mining plans in Jharkhand

NEW DELHI: NTPC Ltd surged as much as 4.4 per cent in intraday trade on Monday to hit its fresh 52-week high of Rs 167.55, after the country's largest power producer said it will foray into coal mining by starting production at its Chatti-Bariatu mines in Jharkhand by the end of the current financial year.

"Production from the Chatti-Bariatu mines is expected to be around 1 million tonnes and will commence by the end of the fiscal," a company official said.

NTPC has ventured into coal mining in a bid to create fuel security. The utility plans to meet about 20 per cent of its requirement of coal from its captive mines by 2017.

The company has been allotted seven coal blocks -- Chatti-Bariatu, Chatti-Bariatu (South), Pakri Barwadih, Kerandari, Brahmani, Chichiro Patsimal and Dulanga. These blocks are in the coal-rich state of Jharkhand, with the exception of Dulanga, which is in Odisha, said an ET report.

Brahmaputra Infrastructure Ltd, in a consortium with BLA Projects Pvt and GSCO Infrastructure, bagged the contract for developing and operating the Chatti-Bariatu mine in 2013, added the report.

The NTPC board had in February 2013 approved an investment of Rs 1,314 crore for mining in this block, which has a capacity to produce 7 million tonnes per annum.