Shinde denies Dabhol block III sale

New Delhi, Mar 7 (UNI) The government today ruled out the sale of the 700 mw capacity unit of the Dabhol Power Plant in Ratnagiri District of Maharashtra.

''There were discussions regarding the privatisation at official levels. But now, no private player is coming in. We will run the plant,'' Power Minister Sushilkumar Shinde said.

Speculations were rife that the present owners of Dabhol, Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd (RGPPL), a joint venture between NTPC and GAIL, have proposed to privatise or run the 700 mw block III of the plant as merchant plant to offset losses from its other generating units.

Liquefied Nautral Gas (LNG) supply for the plant is expected to arrive by April-end from Iran's Petronet LNG, which is mulling long-term deals with countries like Qatar, Algeria and Nigeria.

The LNG terminal at Dabhol requires five million tonne of natural gas.

All phases of the plant with capacity of 2,100 mw are expected to be commissioned by November, Mr Shinde told reporters on the sidelines of SAARC Energy Ministers' Meeting in the capital.

At present, the plant is running on naphatha at a capacity of 350-500 mw due to some technical snags, but will return back to the full 750 mw capacity by April.

UNI