BANGALORE, DECEMBER 15: Six days after abruptly announcing their pullout from the 1,000 MW Mangalore Power Project, sponsors, Cogentrix on Wednesday indicated that they would consider revival of the project on fulfilment of certain conditions.Ron Somers, Managing Director of the Mangalore Power Company, a subsidiary of Cogentrix and Hong Kong-based China Light and Power Company, told reporters here that he would recommend to the sponsors revival of the 1.3 billion dollar fast track project if Karnataka Government stood by the 1997 Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) and the Union Power Ministry gave the draft of the Counter-Guarantee (CG) without delay.After a meeting with the Chief Minister S M Krishna, Somers said the company had made a request to the State Government and the Union Power Ministry to send the necessary signals to the boards of Cogentrix and China Light and Power that there was a commonality of will and interest on the part of the Government to put the project back on the ``fast track''.He said the Supreme Court verdict of December 13 setting aside High Court order for CBI probe into alleged kickbacks had resolved only one of the three outstanding issues, adding, the other two related to CG and PPA.Asked how long the board was ready to wait for the draft of the CG, Somers said it was for the boards to decide. He also made it clear that the board's December 8 decision to pull out of the project was ``firm'' and its ``exit'' strategy is already on.However, terming his meeting with Krishna as ``productive'', Somers said ``only he (Krishna) can salvage the project''.
