Rs 6.10 per unit with new naphta for Dabhol : Shinde

New Delhi, Sep 22 (UNI) The 2,184 MW Dabhol power project will restart next month at a cost of Rs 6.10 a unit as it would be now run on a new consignment of naptha that is more expensive due to current high oil prices, Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said today.

The struggle to restart the project will be there till LNG, the original fuel is procured later this year. Earlier, when the 2.84 billion dollar Dabhol project was restarted for some months on old naptha that was been stored at the site itself, the cost was working out to Rs 4.50 a unit.

''Now naptha prices are high with the crude price going up... even the consumers are prepared to pay higher,'' Mr Shinde said.

The per unit tariff for the naphtha-based power from Dabhol, which is run by the Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd (RGPPL), at Rs 6.10 was arrived at after the Centre waived customs duty on naphtha recently.

RGPPL has submitted its plea before the CERC for the sale of Dabhol power at Rs 6.10. The GoM had met at a time when RGPPL has been making repeated inquiries with the state government and the MahaVitaran on restarting the power purchase.

MahaVitaran had purchased power from the Dabhol project, which was revived on April 30 this year, till June end at the per unit tariff of Rs 4.25. MahaVitaran and RGPPL had entered into an adhoc agreement for the same.

UNI/RT SBA KP1809