India's NTPC sees up to 20 mln T per annum coal imports in 2-3 years

NEW DELHI, Jan 17 (Reuters) - NTPC, India's largest power producer, expects to import up to 20 million tonnes of coal annually in the next three fiscal years, a 25 percent rise from its 2012/13 purchases at the upper range, a senior company official said on Thursday.

"What we see in the next two-three years is that we will be remaining at around 16-20 million tonnes per annum," N.N. Misra, director of operations at NPTC, told Reuters.

The state utility has contracted to import 16.4 million tonnes of coal in 2012/13, a third more than the previous year.

Last year, NTPC had floated import tenders for 9.4 million tonnes and 7 million tonnes of coal to fuel its plants as local supplies trailed demand.

"Deliveries are still going on," Misra said.

In a clear sign of domestic supply lagging galloping demand, the country's thermal and coking coal imports jumped 73.6 percent in November from a year earlier. (Reporting by Malini Menon; editing by Mayank Bhardwaj)

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