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'Enron used clout to put pressure on India'

India's poor foreign exchange reserve prompted it to take up the Enron promoted Dabhol project "with peculiar terms and conditions", an investigative report on US television has said.

America's top rated television programme, CBS-60 Minutes, in an exclusive story on Dabhol project Sunday night, concluded that the energy-giant "Enron used its clout to put pressure on India to honour the deal even if it was commercially unsound".

The report said: "money may have changed hand as Enron never explained what it meant by saying that it spent $20 million to 'educate' Indians on the project."

Enron's White House contacts were evident, it added, as vice-president Richard Cheney raised the Dabhol issue during the US visit of leader of Opposition Sonia Gandhi.

CBS pointed out that while other foreign investors took risks in their projects, Enron's Dabhol project was unique as it was supposed to be a risk-free one.

The electricity generated by it was four times costlier than other companies and the Maharashtra government was supposed to purchase it at a 25 per cent profit to the company whether there were customers for it or not.

CBS noted that it was a project, which India accepted without competitive bidding and the World Bank, after examining the project, declared it unsound and declined to finance it.

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