'Maharashtra will resolve Enron tangle amicably'

By Sridhar Krishnaswami

WASHINGTON, JUNE 29. The Leader of the Opposition and Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, has said that the Maharashtra Government is keen on finding an amicable solution to the imbroglio arising from the Enron Power Project, but without yielding ground on payments based on a high tariff.

Ms. Gandhi has acknowledged that the subject of Enron did come up in her meetings with senior officials and leaders of the Bush administration.

For instance, the U.S. Vice-President, Mr. Dick Cheney, is said to have raised the issue when Ms. Gandhi went to the White House on Wednesday for her meeting.

Enron is a major player in the U.S. with tremendous links to the Bush administration and the Republican Party.

Explaining the Congress stand, the Rajya Sabha M.P. and former Finance Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, said the delegation told the Bush administration that Ms. Gandhi had publicly committed herself to finding a mutually satisfactory solution to the issue based on economic, technical and business consideration.

``We explained the special circumstances which have led to some problems in this project.

First of all, the demand projections on which this project was conceived did not materialise.

Then there has been an exorbitant increase in the price of power because of the depreciation of the rupee and also because the feed stock prices have gone up tremendously.

So, there is a problem. It will be our effort to find an amicable and mutually satisfactory solution,'' Dr. Singh said.

Many in the Bush administration have been making the point, both publicly and privately, that the way the Enron dispute is resolved will have a major bearing on future American investments in India.

While many Indian corporate executives visiting the U.S. have talked about India never going back on contractual obligations, many here stress the need to look beyond contractual obligations and at the kind of message that is coming out of the whole issue.

Ms. Gandhi ended her two-day visit to Washington, satisfied with her meetings with senior officials of the Bush administration, law makers on Capitol Hill and in other interactions.

Besides her meeting with Mr. Cheney, Ms. Gandhi called on the President's National Security Adviser, Dr. Condoleeza Rice, and the Deputy Secretary of State, Mr. Richard Armitage, on Thursday.

The meeting with Dr. Rice revolved around issues of mutual interest of the two countries, including regional and global. The summit meeting between India and Pakistan also came up.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : International
Previous : Advani's Turkey visit will have a bearing on
           summit