India, Sri Lanka sign agreement on Trinco coal plant

India, Sri Lanka sign agreement on Trinco coal plant

The process of site selection for the establishment of the planned coal-fired power plant in Trincomalee is expected to commence in the near future as the Government of India and the Government of Sri Lanka signed an agreement Friday at the Sri Lankan Presidential Secretariat in Colombo, according to a press release issued by the Indian High Commission in Colombo.

A Memorandum of Agreement was signed between NTPC Ltd., (a Government of India Undertaking), CEB and Government of Sri Lanka today at the Presidential Secretariat for setting up of a 500 MW coal based thermal power plant at Trincomalee. The power plant is expected to commence operations from 2011. With the signing of the Agreement will commence the process of site selection in Trincomalee which will be done on the basis of techno-economic and environmental feasibility studies and other relevant matters including availability of infrastructure etc.

The Memorandum of Agreement was signed by Mr. T Sankarlingam, CMD, NTPC Ltd, Mr. MMC Ferdinando , Secretary Power and Mr. Perera, Chairman CEB. Mr. Alok Prasad, High Commissioner, Mr. R V Shahi, Secretary (Power), Government of India and other officials of NTPC and the Indian High Commission were also present. The visiting Indian delegation and High Commissioner of India, Mr. Alok Prasad, also called on H.E. President Mahinda Rajapaksa at Temple Trees.

The project would involve an investment of US $ 500 million and would be implemented by a joint venture company to be formed with a stake of 50% each by NTPC Ltd. and CEB. The project would be funded with a debt equity ratio of 70:30. In January 2007, a joint venture agreement between CEB and NTPC, a power purchase agreement between the JV company and CEB, an agreement between BOI and the JV company, implementation agreement and coal supply agreement are expected to be signed.

NTPC is a Government of India undertaking wherein Government owns 89.5% equity. NTPC is one of the top six companies by market capitalization in India. The market capitalization of NTPC is approximately US $ 25 billion. NTPC has been declared successively for a continuous period of 3 years amongst the top three best places to work in India . In the area of environment, all of NTPC plants are accredited with ISO 14001 certification. NTPC is the second largest owner of trees in the country after Government of India. NTPC, the sixth largest power generator in the world, has an installed capacity of 26,000 MW. During 2005-06, its plants operated at a plant load factor of 87.54%.

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