NTPC, India's country's largest power utility, plans to set the ball rolling for its twin foreign forays - a 1,320MW power plant at Bagerhat in Bangladesh and a 500MW unit in Sri Lanka.

"We have been powering India's drive to growth and are now working to help drive Asia's growth. We intend to complete the Bagerhat plant by 2018 and will step up work on the Sampur coal project (Sri Lanka)," NTPC chairman Arup Roy Choudhury told The Telegraph in India.

NTPC has a 50:50 joint venture with state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board for the 2x660MW project near Khulna.

The Indian Rs 8,000-crore (80 billion) plant will depend on about 8 million tonnes of high-grade coal imported annually through competitive bidding, possibly from Indonesia. Besides, the PSU will export 250MW through a 125km transmission line from Behrampore in Bengal to Bheramara in Bangladesh.

On the Sri Lankan project, Roy Chowdhury said, "Sri Lanka is a good place to spread our wings. The atmosphere is conducive and we have developed a good commercial relationship with our Lankan counterparts."

The coal plant a joint venture of NTPC and Ceylon Electricity Board - is being set up at Sampur in Sri Lanka's Trincomalee area.

Power from the will be transmitted to Sri Lanka's high-voltage transmission lines. India will also work to link its national grid with Lanka's grid through an undersea link.
(With inputs from The Telegraph, India)