Dabhol power to be expensive at Rs 4.50 a unit

New Delhi, Apr 16 (UNI) With LNG supply yet to be tied up, the first phase of the 2,184 MW Dabhol power project, to be run on Naphtha, would start operations by the end of this month generating electricity at a cost of Rs 4.50 as against an earlier estimate of Rs 2.50.

The Government wants to kickstart the moth-balled project before May 1 to provide electricity before the onset of the peak summer season.

The first unit of 740 MW, of the 2,184 MW Dabhol project now renamed Ratnagiri Power and Gas Limited (RPGL) after generation, will sell power to the Maharashtra government at Rs 4.25 -Rs 4.50 a unit. Work on the second unit of 1,444 MW has already begun and would be completed by the year end.

Power Secretary R V Shahi said the Government is trying to start the project by May 1. He said that there is 40,000 metric tonnes of Naphtha and the Petroleum Ministry has assured that the LNG terminal at Ratnagiri would be ready by December 2006, he added.

Maharashtra is now buying power at Rs 5-5.75 per unit, at current prices and power from Naphtha would be about Rs 6.50 to Rs 7. But based on the weighted average price, the state would now buy power at Rs 4.25-4.50 a unit, Mr Shahi said. ''This is acceptable to the Maharashtra government, and it will replace some of the costly power it buys from outside,'' he added.

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