Dabhol Power: Indian Lenders Agree To Rs 2.60/Unit

The government has indicated that the Indian lenders to the Enron-promoted Dabhol Power Company will negotiate a tariff of Rs 2.60 per unit as part of a revival strategy that is being drawn up by a committee headed by IDBI executive director AK Doda.

Senior officials told Business Standard that the government has asked the Indian lenders to the $3 billion power project to first arrive at the cost of power and then work backwards.

The lenders are slated to meet officials from the Central Electricity Authority and ministries of finance and power on Friday to take the process of working out a revival blueprint forward.

The committee of Indian lenders to the project, which met finance secretary Ajit Kumar and power secretary AK Basu apart from other senior government officials in Delhi last Friday, were asked to submit a revival plan for Dabhol in a fortnight.

Sources said that the government has asked the Indian lenders to first work out a package that is acceptable to both Enron and Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) so that the project can be revived.

In case the two parties still continue to be at loggerheads, the lenders have been asked to initiate a dialogue with other parties which would be interested in taking over the management of the power plant.