The Hindu Business Line : Panel to look into sops for Dabhol revival

THE Maharashtra Cabinet on Wednesday decided to set up a new committee headed by the State Energy Secretary to consider a slew of concessions for the beleaguered Dabhol Power Company, if a new promoter were to take over.

The State planned to buy 1,100 MW electricity from the 2184-MW, twin-phase Dabhol power station, the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde, told presspersons after a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday. Mr Shinde also said that talks with other stakeholders would continue to bring down the per unit tariff from the proposed Rs 2.80.

The State Power Minister, Mr Dilip Walse-Patil, later told Business Line that the other members of the committee would be appointed in a few days. The Minister said that while the panel has not yet been given exact terms of reference or a time frame, its primary job would be to negotiate a price at which the State would buy DPC power on the basis of the concessions.

Mr Walse-Patil said the State is not willing to buy power at Rs 2.80 per unit, an ad hoc rate agreed upon some time ago to restart the plant. The committee would also discuss how much hit each stakeholder would take on restarting the plant that has been shut since May 2001.

Lead lender to the Enron-promoted DPC, Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), had asked for waiver of wheeling and transmission charges on inter-State sale of power, stamp duty on sale of assets, and tax and levies on naphtha and equipment purchase. The lender also wanted the Maharashtra State Electricity Board to pay some earlier dues that it held back due to litigation.

According to recent media reports, a technical consultant appointed by IDBI had put the cost of restarting the plant at nearly Rs 900 crore. It had estimated that it would take about a-year-and-half to begin electricity generation.

Meanwhile, a panel appointed by the Finance Ministry and headed by Mr Naresh Chandra is exploring ways to find new sponsors for the project. It is working with OPIC, a US Government agency, that has taken overd Enron's 65 per cent ownership in DPC, to initiate a bidding process to find a buyer. Domestic majors Tata Power and Reliance Energy are said to be keen on running the plant, which can ease Maharashtra's chronic power shortage.