India: Tata Power Will Double Coal Imports to Raise Electricity Output

Tata Power Ltd., India’s biggest non- state electricity generator, will double coal imports this fiscal year to 3 million tons, aiming to boost production by a fifth.

Peak power shortages in India are as high as 15 percent. Tata Power needs to import as much as 22 million tons of coal annually to increase capacity more than fivefold to 12,861 megawatts by March 2013.
The company last year paid $1.3 billion to PT Bumi Resources, Asia’s biggest thermal-coal exporter, for 30 percent of units PT Kaltim Prima Coal and PT Arutmin Indonesia.

Tata Power has invested 240 billion rupees ($5.6 billion) to build 5,600 megawatts of thermal and wind power capacity across India, Menon told reporters, detailing a plan announced in March this year.

The company will spend $150 million through a unit to hire nine capesize bulk carriers, he said. The ships will transport coal from the company’s Indonesian mines to the Mundra port on India’s west coast, where Tata Power is building a 4,000-megawatt coal-fired plant.

Bloomberg