Govt to divert gas from Dabhol plant to power generation stations in Delhi

The Oil Ministry immediately acted on the proposal and approved the temporary shifting of the allocation of APM gas to Delhi

With Delhi reeling under severe power crisis, the government today decided to divert natural gas from Dabhol power plant in Maharashtra to generation stations in the national capital to help produce an additional 218 MW of electricity.

State gas utility GAIL India Ltd proposed to divert 0.9 million standard cubic meters per day of domestic gas allocated to the now shut Dabhol power plant to units in Delhi, a top oil ministry official said.

"One mmscmd can generate 242 MW of power. So 0.9 mmcmd can produce an additional 218 MW," he said.

The Oil Ministry immediately acted on the proposal and approved the temporary shifting of the allocation of APM or administered price mechanism gas to Delhi.

"Dabhol has not been producing as it needs a minimum of 1.4 mmscmd of gas to operate. The plant was left with only 0.9 mmscmd of APM allocation after supplies from KG-D6 fields (of Reliance Industries) stopped following drop in output," the official said.

Power stations in Delhi need as much as 3 mmsmcd of gas and the balance requirement can be met through use of imported LNG.

As temperatures soared to record high, several parts of Delhi faced power cuts lasting six to eight hours as supply fell short of demand.