NTPC to raise up to Rs45bn for expansion

NTPC plans to raise up to Rs45bn from domestic as well as international markets for meeting its expansion plans in the current financial year, according to reports. “We will raise up to US$500mn (around Rs24.5bn) from the global market for our expansion plans in the present financial year,” NTPC Chairman and MD, R.S. Sharma, was quoted as saying by a financial newspaper. The public sector company also plans to raise Rs20bn from the domestic market through private placement of bonds, the paper added. "We also plan to raise Rs20bn from the domestic market through bonds," Sharma said. NTPC, India's biggest power producer, may raise funds through a secondary public offer when market conditions improve, Power Secretary Anil Razdan said today. NTPC sold an 11% stake through an IPO in 2004.