The Hindu Business Line : RasGas to supply LNG to Dabhol plant from April

RasGas will supply 1.2 million tonnes of gas per annum. Price negotiations for gas supply is currently under way but the contract would be till March 2009, said Mr Chandan Roy, Chairman and Managing Director of RGPPL.

Speaking to Business Line, Mr Roy said that gas for the Dabhol plant would be routed through GAIL (India) Ltd's upcoming Dahej-Hazira-Uran-Dabhol pipeline.

The plant is expected to be operationalised by April; by the end of the month it would be able to activate its two turbines with a capacity of 740 MW each.

Confirming the development, Chief Minister, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, said that orders have been given to the District Collectors of Raigad and Ratnagiri to facilitate the upcoming pipeline, which will pass through their districts.

Assistance would be given in completing administrative formalities like right of way for laying the pipeline, Mr Deshmukh said.

RGPPL had shut down the Dabhol plant since July 4, 2006 due to lack of naphtha. The plant is likely to restart from November 1 and run till March 31, 2007 on naphtha. Earlier this week, the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission had approved the proposal of RGPPL to sell up to 700 MW to Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd at a mutually agreed base price of Rs 5.01 per unit for the period between November 2006 and March 2007.

In its proposal to the regulatory commission, RGPPL had said that power would be produced with naphtha, since LNG was not available currently.

It had also proposed that fuel charge of Rs 4.71 was corresponding to current-day naphtha price of $492 a tonne.

The power production of 1,480 MW from the Dabhol plant will help Maharashtra cope with the 4,500 MW load shedding.

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