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Maharashtra mulls tariff hike to pay for Enron power
Friday, 08 November 2002, 20:30 IST
MUMBAI: Maharashtra is working out increases in power tariffs to pay for electricity from Enron's Dabhol plant.
The state owned Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) is expected to shell out a minimum of 
6.8 billion extra annually to purchase power from the Dabhol Power Corporation (DPC) plant.
To begin with, power sold in the state would be priced higher by about 18 paise per unit for domestic consumers, officials here said. The tariff could increase further should the price of naphtha, the primary raw material for the DPC plant, increase in the near future, they added.
Maharashtra decided Thursday to purchase power from the DPC at 2.80 per unit. Maintenance work on the Dabhol plant, which has been shut for more than a year, will begin shortly and power will be available from March 2003, sources said.
The decision followed severe power shortages in many parts of Maharashtra. In several places, farmers attacked and damaged the offices of the MSEB after power outages of up to six hours daily.
Electricity supply in Maharashtra, like elsewhere, has been hit following a poor monsoon. Maharashtra faces a shortfall of 2,000 megawatts (MW) of power during peak hours.
Mumbai is exempted as it receives adequate power from the private sector Tata Electricity Company and BSES Limited. But power supply cuts were introduced in urban areas around this city last month.
With power supplied from the country's hydel power plants sharply curtailed, fuel fired generation units like the Enron plant will have to be utilized at full capacity, officials said.
The $3 billion Enron project went into limbo after the MSEB, DPC's sole customer, said it could not afford to buy the costly power the plant produced.
Plans to bring private sector participation in the transmission and distribution of power in Maharashtra would also be accelerated, officials said.
Source: IANS
6.8 billion extra annually to purchase power from the Dabhol Power Corporation (DPC) plant.
To begin with, power sold in the state would be priced higher by about 18 paise per unit for domestic consumers, officials here said. The tariff could increase further should the price of naphtha, the primary raw material for the DPC plant, increase in the near future, they added.
Maharashtra decided Thursday to purchase power from the DPC at 2.80 per unit. Maintenance work on the Dabhol plant, which has been shut for more than a year, will begin shortly and power will be available from March 2003, sources said.
The decision followed severe power shortages in many parts of Maharashtra. In several places, farmers attacked and damaged the offices of the MSEB after power outages of up to six hours daily.
Electricity supply in Maharashtra, like elsewhere, has been hit following a poor monsoon. Maharashtra faces a shortfall of 2,000 megawatts (MW) of power during peak hours.
Mumbai is exempted as it receives adequate power from the private sector Tata Electricity Company and BSES Limited. But power supply cuts were introduced in urban areas around this city last month.
With power supplied from the country's hydel power plants sharply curtailed, fuel fired generation units like the Enron plant will have to be utilized at full capacity, officials said.
The $3 billion Enron project went into limbo after the MSEB, DPC's sole customer, said it could not afford to buy the costly power the plant produced.
Plans to bring private sector participation in the transmission and distribution of power in Maharashtra would also be accelerated, officials said.
Source: IANS