Lead prices traded lower by a rupee per kg in the local metal market today due to reduced offtake from battery makers. Traders said reduced offtake from battery makers led to the fall in lead prices.

Warning that 80 per cent of the country's power plants face the risk of a default due to coal shortages and environmental issues, a body of power producers has petitioned the government for an expert group to review contracts awarded under through the competitive bidding route.

State-run NTPC would invest around Rs 6,600 crore for setting up a coal-based power project at Kanpur, on which the work is expected to start from January 2012. The proposed 1,320 MW project is likely to come up at Bilhaur, near Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh.