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Dabhol Project revival will have to wait till new govt at Centre

The revival of 1,967 MW Dabhol project especially with the restoration of gas supply and financial package will have to wait until new government takes over at the Centre. The Ratnagiri Gas & Power Pvt Ltd (RGPPL), which possesses Dabhol assets since 2005, has admitted that it was currently passing through a difficult pase in the absence of gas allocation and low recovery of its dues from the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MahaVitaran). The project is closed since December 28 last year.

RGPPL spokesman admitted that it has received a major relief after the project lenders including SBI, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank and Canara Bank have upheld its demand to extend the deadline upto March for declaring the project non perfroming asset (NPA) in the wake of low repayment of loans.

''Our monthly requirement for repayment is INR 108 crore which we are unable to mobilize. So far we were able to repay about INR 600 crore during 2013-14 from whatever payment we got from MahaVitaran and also from Goa and Dadra Nagar Haveli. Besides, repayment was made from our reserves. MahaVitaran's total arrears have surged to INR 1,573 crore as on date. However, it has been disputed by the MahaVitaran,'' the spokesman said. He added that MahaVitaran during current fiscal has paid INR 127 crore of the total dues.

RGPPL spokesman said the company is ready to operate at full 1,967 MW capacity but unable to get gas from the approved quota. The company needs a total of 8.5 million standard cubic meters per day (MMSCMD) gas for full operation. ''The project operated at 310 MW during December 3 & 28 last year after it had received 1.75 MMSCMD gas from GAIL India. We have received only INR 16 crore towards fuel charge from MahaVitaran against the total bill amount of INR 204 crore for the power supplied to it in December last year,'' he informed.

Further, RGPPL official, who did not want to be identified, said even if Centre allocates some gas in the near future it may not operate the project in the absence of scheduling for power from MahaVitaran. He however, clarified that the company has been pursuing its efforts for gas restoration and recovery of its dues from MahaVitaran.

Source-On Request