Mseb To Study Godbole Final Report Before Giving Go-Ahead

In a setback to the Ispat group-sponsored 1082 MW Bhadravati Power Project, the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) has told the Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court that it would not go ahead with the project till the state government and the electricity board evaluated the second part of the report submitted by the energy review committee headed by former Union home secretary Madhav Godbole.

The statement was made by MSEB before a division bench consisting of R M Lodha and S K Shah during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by senior Congress leader Banwarilal Purohit challenging the PPA signed by MSEB with the Ispat group-promoted Central India Power Company for the coal-based fast track power project at Bhadravati.

Counsel for MSEB Sunil Manohar submitted on affidavit that the energy review committee had turned in the second part of its report to the state government on July 11, 2001, but it had not yet been published.

After careful scrutiny of the report, the MSEB will take a final decision in the matter, the electricity board counsel said, saying