Centre will buy Dabhol power plant very soon, says Pawar

And in Alibaug, he reiterated the Centre’s plan while taking a dig at the DPC’s critics. ‘‘Why should someone object if the power crisis in Maharashtra can be solved once the Centre or an Indian company buys the DPC,’’ he remarked in reference to a call for statewide protests by Medha Patkar-led Jan Andolan to oppose DPC’s revival.

The $2-billion naphtha and gas-based power project installed at Dabhol in the coastal Ratnagiri district has long been mired in controversy. Located approximately 180 km south of Mumbai, DPC was the now-defunct Enron’s flagship project in India.

Dabhol Phase I, generating 740 MW of power, began operating in May 1999. When Phase II is completed, Dabhol will generate 2,450 MW to become the world’s largest independent natural gas-fired power plant.

The DPC had ceased to operate in 2001 after its power purchase agreement (PPA) with the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) was cancelled— exorbitant buying costs were cited as the reason.

Pawar is now hopeful that DPC power will be available to Maharashtra at the rate of Rs 2.30 per unit. The rate quoted by him is much less than what MSEB had been paying then. For now, DPC seems to be an immediate solution to Maharashtra’s unprecedented power crisis as it can generate at least 700 MW once it gets operational again.

Pawar, a prominent member of a group of ministers which will decide on the DPC purchase, said that talks with Dabhol were still on and ‘‘the MSEB too is negotiating a new PPA with DPC’’.

Meanwhile, the Shiv Sena today extended full support to DPC’s revival. In Pune, Narayan Rane said, ‘‘It will take at least three-four years to start a new power generation plant. So it would be practical to revive DPC, which has a capacity of more than 2,000 MW.’’