NEW DELHI: The National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) is all set to foray into the manufacturing business. Faced with increased demand for power equipment and lack of proper supply, NTPC will ink an agreement with the Kerala-based Transformers and Electricals Kerala Limited (TELK) next month to manufacture high capacity transformers to achieve the targets set for the XI Plan.

"We will sign an agreement with TELK on July 23 and pump in Rs. 34 crore in the first stage as our equity that would later be hiked to Rs. 67 crore. The facility will start producing transformers within the next one and half years and also have facility for repair and maintenance,'' NTPC Chairman-cum-Managing Director, T. Sankaralingam, said.

Daunting task

Asserting that achieving the 74,000 MW target for generation during the next five years was a daunting task but not an impossible one, Mr. Sankaralingam said the kind of capacity addition and the repair and replacement required for transformers during this period was something the present manufacturers will not be able to deliver. "TELK is interested in joining hands to manufacture the product and we are interested in the service side. So this is one of the major reasons for going into the manufacturing business,'' he added.

Mr. Sankaralingam said the idea of getting into this joint venture was to ensure that no gap arises due to lack of supply of equipment or spare parts. Explaining the rational behind this major decision, he said the life of a transformer was 20 to 25 years. Several hundred transformers were scheduled for repair. At present there were five manufacturers of transformers and they could not meet this huge demand even if they stretched themselves. Therefore, NTPC decided to get into this business, which would not only save time but also money, he added.

He said the new facility would manufacture 4,500 MVA and 1,000 MVA capacity transformers. It would have the facility of serving 1,500 MVA transformers that come up for repair and maintenance, thereby helping in maintaining the replacement cycle. Mr. Sankaralingam said NTPC would introduce the concept of in-situ repair of transformers. A transformer on an average took around two to three months for repair and the cost would be around Rs. 2 to 5 crore. With in-house facility, NTPC would be able to save a lot of money and time as well, he said.

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