Date:26/08/2006 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2006/08/26/stories/2006082600481600.htm

Business

Ratnagiri Gas to restart in Oct.

Special Correspondent

To source LNG from the Gulf and other countries

NEW DELHI: The Dabhol power project in Maharashtra, currently shut down owing to the shortage of naphtha, is to restart generation by October this year with liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the main fuel feedstock, according to the Union Power Minister, Sushilkumar Shinde.

Speaking to newspersons on the sidelines of the two-day `Ninth Energy Summit,' which began here on Thursday, Mr. Shinde said that efforts were on to source LNG from the Gulf and other countries. "The power plant has been shut for some time and its re-commissioning would possibly commence by October with LNG as [the] main input to generate power,'' he said.

After being mothballed for five years, the Dabhol project had commenced operations on April 30 this year. This was following a settlement under which the plant, renamed as Ratnagiri Gas & Power, was taken over by NTPC Ltd., GAIL ((India) Ltd. and SBI, each having a 28 per cent stake in the project. However, after generating power for about nine weeks, the plant had to be switched off on July 4 owing to the high cost and shortage of naphtha.