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Dabhol lies idle but consumers continue to pay
NAGPUR:
The Union ministry of power (MoP) has suddenly woken up from its deep
slumber over the 1,980 MW Dabhol plant lying idle since July 15 as banks
have sounded an alarm over a massive loan default.
Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Limited (RGPPL), the company that runs
the plant, collectively owes Rs8,500 crore to ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, SBI
and Canara Bank.
However, the state government has never taken up the issue with MoP even though MSEDCL consumers are paying around 17 paise per unit for a plant that is not generating a single unit of electricity. The consumers are effectively paying over 19.5 paise per unit due to electricity duty. The state government is pocketing this 2.5 paise per unit amount. Interestingly, MSEDCL, which is collecting this money from consumers, is not passing it on to RGPPL, which has complained to MoP in this regard.
This is not the first time that consumers are being unnecessarily penalized for the jinxed plant. They had paid a surcharge of 35 paise unit for four months from December 2009 to March 2010 to meet extra Rs650 crore maintenance cost of Dabhol.
Even otherwise Dabhol power has almost been the costliest for MSEDCL. According to MSEDCL official if the plant functioned at full capacity then the price of power would have been around Rs3.75 per unit (at earlier Reliance gas price). "However, when it functions at only one-third capacity it increases to Rs5.81 per unit. This shows that whenever the generation reduces the power rate goes up because the fixed cost remains the same."
The 17 paise per unit surcharge was finalized by Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) in the tariff order for 2012-13. RGPPL was to be paid Rs1,854 crore as fixed charges by MSEDCL in addition to variable charges that depend on fuel cost.
Dabhol needs 8.5 mmscmd (million standard cubic meters per day) gas for running at full capacity of 1,800 MW. However, the supply from Reliance' KG basin has been dwindling continuously and now has stopped completely. The plant can't be run on imported gas because it is far costlier and will make power rate too high.
RGPPL is in bad financial shape.[Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private limited (RGPPL] It incurred a loss of Rs1,156 crore in 2012-13 as the generation was less by over 9,000 million units (MUs) than the target. This is up from over 3,000 MUs in 2011-12.
However, the state government has never taken up the issue with MoP even though MSEDCL consumers are paying around 17 paise per unit for a plant that is not generating a single unit of electricity. The consumers are effectively paying over 19.5 paise per unit due to electricity duty. The state government is pocketing this 2.5 paise per unit amount. Interestingly, MSEDCL, which is collecting this money from consumers, is not passing it on to RGPPL, which has complained to MoP in this regard.
This is not the first time that consumers are being unnecessarily penalized for the jinxed plant. They had paid a surcharge of 35 paise unit for four months from December 2009 to March 2010 to meet extra Rs650 crore maintenance cost of Dabhol.
Even otherwise Dabhol power has almost been the costliest for MSEDCL. According to MSEDCL official if the plant functioned at full capacity then the price of power would have been around Rs3.75 per unit (at earlier Reliance gas price). "However, when it functions at only one-third capacity it increases to Rs5.81 per unit. This shows that whenever the generation reduces the power rate goes up because the fixed cost remains the same."
The 17 paise per unit surcharge was finalized by Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission (MERC) in the tariff order for 2012-13. RGPPL was to be paid Rs1,854 crore as fixed charges by MSEDCL in addition to variable charges that depend on fuel cost.
Dabhol needs 8.5 mmscmd (million standard cubic meters per day) gas for running at full capacity of 1,800 MW. However, the supply from Reliance' KG basin has been dwindling continuously and now has stopped completely. The plant can't be run on imported gas because it is far costlier and will make power rate too high.
RGPPL is in bad financial shape.[Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private limited (RGPPL] It incurred a loss of Rs1,156 crore in 2012-13 as the generation was less by over 9,000 million units (MUs) than the target. This is up from over 3,000 MUs in 2011-12.
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