The Empowered Group of Ministers, which is looking into the debacle of the Dabhol power project, hopes to come up with a solution that would be "acceptable" to all parties concerned, including promoters GE and Bechtel and IDBI-led consortium of lenders.
"We are working towards a solution which is expected to be acceptable to all parties," Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, who heads the GoM, told reporters on the sidelines of PHDCCI's 99th annual general session in New Delhi on Friday.
Even after four meetings, he declined to give a deadline within which the matter would be resolved.
The process to resolve the DPC issue picked up momentum up after the UPA assumed office. The government set up a GoM and asked the Cabinet secretariat to look into the issue.
The GoM has asked public sector undertakings like National Thermal Power Corporation and Gas Authority of India to assist in restarting the power plant.
The high-powered panel has also asked domestic lenders to buy the offshore debts. For this, a special purpose vehicle is to be set up by the Indian PSUs and lead lender IDBI. The GoM has given in principle nod for this.
The effort to restructure and restart the 2184-MW Dabhol power plant comes in the wake of concerns raised by foreign promoters and the $6 billion claims filed by them in international arbitration at London for alleged breach of Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement.
