NTPC Ltd.

National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) has inked a loan agreement of Rs 10,000 crore with State Bank of India (SBI) on July 07, 2011 and the rupee term loan has a door to door maturity of 12 years with a drawdown period of 4 years. Also, the company has priced on July 07, 2011, $500 million fixed rate senior unsecured notes under its $1 billion MTN programme. The notes carry a coupon of 5.625% p.a. payable semi-annually and are due for maturity on July 14, 2021. The company shall utilize the above loans for financing the capital expenditure of ongoing / new projects.

Recently, NTPC was likely to shut down two more units of 500 MW each in Orissa. The power utility major had already shut down two of its 500 MW units at Kanhia, near Talcher, in Orissa state.

Orissa State Pollution Control Board (OSPCB) had sent closure notice to the central public sector unit due to its faulty fly ash management plan. However, the NTPC authorities had requested the OSPCB to reconsider its decision. Responding to the NTPC's request, the OSPCB had asked the company to submit a permanent action plan (PAP) to contain the fly ash problem. The PAP should be satisfactory to both the sides.

In July 2010 and on June 3, 2011, there were breaches in the dykes and ash slurry oozed out of the pond. The slurry flowed down to the local Nandira River, a tributary of Brahmani, and contaminated it. In the second incident, the breach was limited to NTPC's own area and did not cause any damage to public health. The OSPCB, on June 29, rejected NTPC's request for four months time to re-pair and raise the height of the ash pond dykes.