The jinxed Dabhol power project may get another shot at revival with the petroleum ministry assuring and RIL expressing interest to supply LNG to the plant.
"The petroleum ministry has assured us of gas or LNG supplies starting end of March 2007," Power Secretary R V Shahi told reporters on the sidelines of a power ministers' conference.
Meanwhile, sources said Reliance Industries Ltd has also expressed interest in supplying 6-8 mmscmd of gas beginning second half of 2008.
The gas from RIL would be supplied through the 1,385 km long Kakinada-Bharuch pipeline.
The government had in September asked the petroleum ministry to evaluate various options, including sourcing gas from RIL for the project, which was shut down in July due to monsoon, besides lack of naphtha to run the plant.
It was re-started again on November 1, but only the 740 MW Block-II of the 2,184 MW project is being run on imported naphtha as the new promoters -- GAIL and NTPC Ltd -- have not been able to tie-up natural gas. With naphtha, the cost of generation is likely to be more than Rs 5 per unit.
Petronet LNG Ltd, is in dialogue with Qatar for sourcing 1.2 million tonnes per annum LNG for 2007, but price remains an issue.
Petroleum ministry has been asked to tap supplies of gas from Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, Cairn Energy, and British Gas for the project. The ministry has been given a month to conduct a feasibility exercise, they said.
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