T Sankaralingam, the new chairman-cum-managing director of National Thermal Power [Get Quote] Corporation Limited, said on Thursday that the cost of restarting Dabhol power project would push up the cost of electricity for the consumers in Mumbai.

Addressing his first press conference after taking over new responsibilities, he said in New Delhi that the cost of production of electricity has gone up. "I think the consumers would be paying Rs 4 or little more per unit," he said.

Earlier reports had said that Dabhol power would cost around Rs 2.75 to Rs 2.70 a unit.

NTPC, GAIL and financial institutions like IDBI hold Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) equity in Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd, earlier called Dabhol Power Company.

• The Dabhol Story: Coverage

Sankaralingam also said, "NTPC has decided to retain the brand name and make it a limited company because we are diversifying into other fields as well. We are already in the field of coal mining. We are entering into gas project. We are now looking for work beyond India in Gulf and Europe. We are going to open an office in Dubai. The company's market capitalisation has crossed Rs 1 trillion (Rs 100,000 crore) and is one of the top three Indian companies in terms of market cap," he said.

He admitted that the net profit after tax for the year 2005-2006 has fallen to Rs 5,706.1 crore from Rs 5,807 crore during the year 2004-2005. "This is due to service tax and the VAT, etc," he said.

He gave credit to the NTPC staff for doing a brilliant job in all fields, particularly collections. "Barring the Delhi Electricity Supply Undertaking, which owes over Rs 800 crore (Rs 8 billion) to the NTPC, all the other states -- including Bihar -- have cleared their outstandings. We have got 100 per cent collection for third consecutive year," he said.

He refused to give details of marketing strategies when a newsman asked him why is so hopeful of getting gas from international market when organisations like GAIL have failed in their efforts. "This is our strategy and we would like to keep it to ourselves," he said.

NTPC contributed 27.68 per cent electricity generated in the country during 2005 and 2006. "We have construction work of 9470 megawatts in progress and further projects with capacity of 3720 MW are under bidding process. NTPC has also taken up distribution generation for rural electrification of remote villages through non-conventional energy sources," he said.

The power major produced 170.88 billion units showing an increase of 7.40% over the previous year's generation of 159.11 billion units. "The stocks of the company are in great demand. This shows the confidence of the people in NTPC brand," he added.