A tangle of power lines hangs over a street in New Delhi, India in this May photo. To fuel growth in the world’s second-fastest growing economy, Indian power producers—such as Tata Power, the nation’s third-largest utility—must secure supplies of coal, the cheapest but the dirtiest energy source. After having acquired two Indonesian coal mines, Power Co. said it may buy vessels or stakes in shipping companies to transport the solid fuel from the southeast Asian nation. --Bloomberg

SINGAPORE—Tata Power Co., India’s third-biggest utility, said it may buy vessels or stakes in shipping companies to transport coal from Indonesia, after acquiring shares of two mines in the Southeast Asian nation.

The company has appointed an adviser to look at the options including long-term charters, managing director Prasad Menon told reporters in Singapore Thursday, without elaborating. Tata Power is in talks with shipping companies and agents, he said.

Acquiring a vessel or a shipping group’s stake will help the Mumbai-based company cut transportation costs. The Baltic

Dry Index, a measure of commodity-shipping costs on different routes and ship sizes, has risen 37 percent this year, according to the London-based Baltic Exchange.

“Picking up a stake in a shipping company will mean ensured capacity for Tata Power, which makes sense in the long run,’’ said Sameer Ranade, an analyst at PINC Research in Mumbai. “But it may have to pay a premium for the stake considering tanker demand and high freight prices.’’ Ranade has a “hold’’ rating on the stock.

Tata Power shares rose 13.1 rupees, or 2 percent, to 645.55 rupees at the 3:30 p.m. close on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The stock has risen 15 percent this year, outperforming the 4.6- percent gain in the Sensitive Index.

The company agreed in March to pay $1.3 billion to PT Bumi Resources, Asia’s third-biggest coal miner, for a 30-percent stake in PT Kaltim Prima Coal and PT Arutmin. The acquisition entitled Tata Power to purchase 10 million metric tons of coal from one of the mines, securing supplies of the fuel for its power plants to be built on India’s west coast.

Indian power producers are buying coal to help the government meet a target of almost tripling the country’s generating capacity by 2012 as demand in the world’s second-fastest growing major economy rises.

Tata Power will need to import 21 million tons of coal a year by 2013, from 2 million tons now, Menon said.

Coal is the world’s fastest-growing energy source as rising oil prices prompt users to switch fuels, the US Energy Information Administration said in a report published May 21. --Bloomberg 

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SINGAPORE—Tata Power Co., India’s third-biggest utility, said it may buy vessels or stakes in shipping companies to transport coal from Indonesia, after acquiring shares of two mines in the Southeast Asian nation.