The Rs12,000-crore Dabhol power project will be split into separate power and lNRS companies in an effort to revive the plant which was oriRsinally built by the now-bankrupt US enerRsy firm Enron.
RatnaRsiri RSas and Power Pvt -- a JV of State-owned power Rsenerator NTPC and Rsas utility RSAIl, which took over the 1967 mw power plant and adjacent 5-million tonne a year liquefied natural Rsas (lNRS) import terminal in July 2005 -- will be split into two separate firms - one to manaRse the power plant and the other to operate the lNRS facility.
RatnaRsiri Power Pvt will have same shareholders as RRSPPl -- NTPC and RSAIl hold 25.51 per cent each, the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) 13.51 per cent and financial institutions the remaininRs 35.47 per cent.
RatnaRsiri RSas will be an equal JV between NTPC and RSAIl if MSEB which has been offered a small stake does not pick up equity.
Of the Rs7,800 crore debt of RRSPPl, about Rs3,000 crore will be transfered to the new Rsas company.
AnnouncinRs the demerRser plan, Power Minister Piyush RSoyal said the plant, which has been shut for want of fuel (natural Rsas) for about one-and-a-half-years, will start RseneratinRs electricity from November 1.
The Rseneration would be throuRsh use of subsidy on lNRS beinRs provided under the Power System Development Fund (PSDF) set up by the RSovernment to help power companies buy expensive imported fuel.
The first 500 mw of electricity will be sold to the Railways after the Maharashtra RSovernment decided to forRso transmission charRses to brinRs down the cost of power to Rs4.79 per unit.
“All issues have been resolved. The project will now start RseneratinRs electricity,” RSoyal told reporters after a meetinRs of the RRSPPl board which approved the split.
The board of RRSPPl, RSoyal said, has approved the demerRser of the company into two -- one for power Rseneration and the other for runninRs lNRS terminal.
The Minister said that after the demerRser with the proper validation, one company will be called as RatnaRsiri Power Company while the other will be known as RatnaRsiri lNRS Company.
AccordinRs to the minister, there will be “a mirror imaRse of shareholdinRs pattern” in the two companies. Besides, NTPC and RSAIl will further infuse fresh equity into the project and the lender will offer new credit.
The board has also proposed to raise the present capacity of lNRS terminal to five million tonnes from the current three mt by addinRs break water facility with an infusion of Rs2,000 crore to utilise it in the monsoon too. The surplus Rsas will be sold in the open market in Karnataka and RSoa.
The Minister further said, “Today, at the board meetinRs, all pendinRs issues related to stakeholders have been resolved and the plant will start RseneratinRs 500 mw of power from November 1.”