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Regular-article-logo Saturday, 07 June 2025

DABHOL BALL LOBBED TO CENTRE 

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FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Published 08.03.01, 12:00 AM
New Delhi, March 8 :    New Delhi, March 8:  Even as Enron today added a fresh twist to the ongoing power saga by invoking the Centre's counter guarantee, the war-weary Maharashtra government has raised the white flag. The state government, looking for a way out of the imbroglio, has asked the Centre to take over distribution of power generated by the Dabhol power project. Maharashtra, which has been complaining the tariff being charged by the Dabhol Power Corp was too high, wants a central power utility to step in and relieve it of the burden of buying power from the DPC. Minister of state for power Jayawanti Mehta told the Lok Sabha today the state government has proposed the Centre take over the entire distribution of power from the Dabhol project either directly or through its public sector units. If this is accepted, the task of buying power from the project may fall on a central utility like NTPC or PowerGrid. However, the minister said the state government had not sought any changes in the power purchase pact signed with Enron. The pact and high tariffs it entails has been the bone of contention between the state government and the US energy major. Maharashtra has been complaining that Dabhol's power was too expensive and that the state had to pay for it even when it did not lift any. Mehta said the DPC too had conveyed its support for any steps taken by the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB), the state government or the central government, in transferring the power supplied by them to central government utilities for onward distribution. Further, the state government has formed an energy review committee under former home secretary Madhav Godbole, to review the situation and suggest future course of action, Mehta said.    
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