Dabhol plant to reopen after 532 days

Securing gas lifeline in auction helps RGPPL end 530-day closure

The mega power plant in Ratnagiri district would start generating from Monday, after being closed for almost 530 days.

Ratnagiri Gas & Power Pvt Ltd (RGPPL), which took over the plant formerly known as the Dabhol project, had recently secured 1.98 million standard cubic feet per day (mscmd) of gas. The per-unit tariff was projected at Rs 4.70 in the bidding.

The plant was shut since December 28, 2013, for want of gas and due to financial constraints.  Government-owned RGPPL plans to generate 500 Mw, against a capacity of 1,967 Mw. RGPPL board would meet on Tuesday to decide.

Power minister Piyush Goyal told Business Standard: “The company has secured 1.98 mscmd of gas, which will help restore power generation. RGPPL will secure additional gas in the next round of bidding”. Goyal said the Centre was exploring setting up a facility at the plant to convert natural gas into its liquefied form, making it easier to transport. Regasification would help ensure gas supply to power plants, he said.

RGPPL would have to scout for new buyers as Maharashtra had terminated its power purchase agreement (PPA) from January, citing unilateral change in the deal. RGPPL had disputed Maharashtra’s move.

According to PPA, Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MahaVitaran) would buy 95 per cent of the power and the balance was given to Goa. MahaVitaran had indicated it was not keen to draw power from the Dabhol project as it had enough to meet demand. RGPPL official said Karnataka and some other states have evinced interest to procure power. But issues related to power scheduling and transmission would have to be sorted out, he added.
 

RGPPL board to approve conversion of Rs 450-cr debt into equity

The board of Ratnagiri Power & Gas Pvt Ltd (RGPP) slated to meet on Tuesday will give its approval for the conversion of debt worth Rs 450 crore into equity. This will lead to increase in RGPPL's equity to Rs 3,820 crore from the present level of Rs 3,370 crore. 

RGPPL's authorised share capital is Rs 3,500 crore. 

A decision in this regard was taken at the RGPPL's extra ordinary general meeting (EGM) held last week. RGPPL's board will ratify decision taken at the EGM. 

With this move, NTPC's equity will come down to 25.51% from the present level of 28.91%. Similarly, GAIL's share holding will reduce to 25.51% from 28.91%, MSEB Holding Company's to 13.5% from 15.35%. However, the equity held by lenders will surge to 35.48% from 26.85%. The lenders to the Dabhol project include IDBI Bank Ltd, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank Ltd and Canara Bank.

This is the second time RGPPL is converting debt to equity. It had converted debt of Rs 405 crore into equity in December last year too.