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Bechtel, GE, NTPC to assess Dabhol unit

Anil Sasi in New Delhi

As a precursor to restarting the 740 mw Phase-I of the project, US-based General Electric and Bechtel, equity holders in the 2,184 mw Dabhol Power Company, will team up with state-owned National Thermal Power Corporation to assess the condition of the facility.

The plant has been lying idle for more than one-and-a-half years.

A high-level team comprising representatives from GE, Bechtel, NTPC, the Maharashtra State Electricity Board and the Industrial Development Bank of India-led lenders' consortium will visit the plant by the end of the month to assess the plant's condition prior to restarting the facility, according to officials who attended a meeting convened by IDBI on Friday.

The meeting, which delved mainly on the technical aspects of how to restart the project, was attended by executives from GE, MSEB and senior personnel from NTPC and Punj Lloyd.

Officials said a timeframe for restarting power generation from the plant could be given only after the assessment was done.

The lenders to the project had a few months ago appointed Punj Lloyd as caretaker manager of the plant to prevent equipment damage from disuse till the facility was operationalised.

According to officials, any concrete step for restarting the plant can be taken only after arriving at a consensus tariff.

Meanwhile, deputy chief minister Chhagan Bhujbal has said the Maharashtra government is ready to buy power from the Dabhol Power Company at Rs 2.77 per unit.

Addressing the media in Nagpur on Saturday, Bhujbal said: "The Democratic Front government will finalise the power purchase agreement to buy DPC's power because the 2,184 mw plant has been lying idle and the state needs to overcome a severe power shortage."

He said negotiations with the National Thermal Power Corporation to operate the plant were on.

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