No question of selling Dabhol plant: Shinde

New Delhi, Feb 13 (UNI) The Government today clearly said it will not sell any stake in Dabhol power plant's liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal.

''We are not going to sell any stake in Dabhol to anyone,'' Power Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde told reporters here.

Earlier, it was reported that the government was planning to sell the terminal to firms like Reliance Industries or Gujarat State Petroleum Corporation (GSPC), who can keep fuel cost of the power plant low by pooling costlier imported LNG with their cheaper domestic gas.

Reliance had expressed its interest in taking over the Dabhol LNG terminal, while GSPC had intentions to build two import terminal on the west coast.

Speaking at a two-day NTPC conference, Mr Shinde urged all power generating companies to enhance their efficiencies, keeping in mind its reliability and cost effectiveness.

With over 100 power generating companies operating in the country at present, the minister called the manufacturing units ''to increase the capacity addition''.

''If a thermal plant increases its efficiency by one per cent, it will save over eight million tonnes of coal, besides helping the environment,'' Mr Shinde said.

UNI