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BSES open to link up with Shell or Gaz for Dabhol

S Ravindran

Power major BSES is open to the prospect of tying up with global gas majors like Shell and Gaz de France for bidding jointly for acquiring the foreign sponsors stake of 85 per cent in the Dabhol Power Company.

BSES chairman and managing director R V Shahi said, "Both these companies had approached us but at the moment we are going alone. At a later stage if we feel the need for roping in a partner for the LNG operations of the project, we will tie up with one of them."

The near complete 2,184 mw Dabhol power project at Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra also has a 5 million tonne LNG terminal. About 2.1 million tonne will be used for supplying power to the project while the balance 2.9 million tonne was enevisaged for supplying gas across the state.

Six other companies apart from BSES are in the fray for acquirng the 85 per cent stake in DPC.

They are Tata Power, GAIL, Reliance, Shell, Gaz de France and British Gas.

The problem confronting the Indian corporates like Tata Power and BSES is that they are pure power companies and have no experience in handling LNG. This is the reason that Tata Power is looking at tying up with GAIL.

The controversial $ 3 billion project not only represented the largest FDI in India but was the showpiece of India's poiwe reform programme initiated in the early ninties.

The three US-based companies Enron Corp, General Electric and Bechtel--which hold a combined 85 per cent stake in DPC--decided to quit the proejct following a payments dsipute with the Maharashtra State Electricity Board which incidentally holds 15 per cent equity in DPC.

The lenders led by the Industrial Development Bank of India have now kicked off the sale proces thorugh competitive bids.

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