Dabhol power pack

Prospects of a successful settlement of the Dabhol case with General Electric GE and Bechtel, who own 85 per cent of the Dabhol Power Company DPC, are welcome. The remaining 15 per cent share is owned by the Maharashtra Power Development Corporation MPDC. With this, ownership of the DPC will now come into the hands of a special purpose vehicle.

Work on restarting the plant, which has been lying shut since 2001 8212; after the Maharashtra State Electricity Board found itself unable to pay for the high tariff negotiated with DPC 8212; will now begin. The National Thermal Power Corporation NTPC will operate the plant. It should be able to restart it since it will now be given its designs and restart keys from GE 8212; which supplied the turbines 8212; and the drawings and designs from Bechtel, which was the engineering-cum-construction company. The Gas Authority of India Limited GAIL, will be responsible for sourcing LNG for the plant.

The settlement has not come cheap, of course, and amounts to nearly Rs 10,600 crore. But operationalising the 2,184 MW DPC would certainly help Maharashtra address the severe power crisis it is currently facing. It has been agreed that MSEB will buy 2,184 MW power from the plant, which is expected to restart by end-2006, for Rs 2.30 per unit, at a plant load factor of 80 per cent, which is far more affordable for MSEB than the Rs 7 per unit it was expected to pay Dabhol. The capacity of the Dabhol plant may be increased in the future to 5,000 MW. If that happens, Maharashtra8217;s power woes would be addressed for some time to come.