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Mr John G. Rice, President & CEO, GE Energy (right), and Mr Scott R. Bayman, President & CEO, GE India, addressing a press conference in the Capital on Thursday. — Ramesh Sharma

New Delhi , June 23

THE 2,184-MW Dabhol power project is close to being restarted, with GE, one of the major equity holders, expected to reach an agreement with Indian financial institutions by this month end.

"We will sign a comprehensive settlement agreement with the FIs led by IDBI... This will put an end to all disputes," Mr Scott Bayman, President and CEO, GE India, said here at a news conference.

"We want the plant to be restarted as soon as possible. The three companies — BHEL, NTPC and GAIL — are all capable companies and can start generation of electricity very soon," he said.

The GE Energy President and CEO, Mr John Rice, who was in India on a two-day visit, met Power Secretary, Mr R.V. Shahi, today and held discussions on the restarting of Dabhol plant and on GE's expansion plan in India. Asked when the plant could be restarted, Mr Rice said: "The condition of the plant, on the face of it, looks good. We want to settle the matter and move forward."

The $2.9-billion Dabhol plant has been lying idle since mid-2001 following payment disputes with the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB). GE and Bechtel, who were project contractors in Dabhol Power Corporation with stakes of 10 per cent each, were awarded 65.5 per cent equity of Enron in the project by a US bankruptcy court for about $20 million in April 2004.

Earlier the combine had served arbitration notices to the Maharashtra Government and the Centre against the guarantee and counter guarantees provided by them for the project. Asked about the status of arbitration notices, Mr Bayman said all these details would be made known at the time of agreement with the FIs.

Speaking about the future plans of GE Energy in the country, Mr Rice said the unit is targeting more than $1 billion in revenue from India by 2010. GE Energy, the world's biggest maker of power-generation equipment and related services, said its focus is on gas turbines and services in India.

The $17.3-billion global company is looking at the areas of rural electrification, wind energy, nuclear, hydro energy, and oil and gas areas. "India is at the beginning of an exciting growth cycle. As state governments begin to accelerate power sector reforms, we expect GE Energy to grow rapidly in India in view of the large investments being planned in the power sector and GE's technological edge," Mr Rice said.

He added that GE has one of the sophisticated technologies for nuclear power plants and hence would encourage the Indian and the US Governments to enter into a dialogue for cooperation in this area. GE Energy is operating in the power sector in partnership with various PSUs like BHEL and NTPC and also private companies like Essar Power and Reliance.

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