Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Ltd, the erstwhile Dabhol project, will fire up its power plant on November 1, more than two-and-a-half years after fuel supply constraints left the asset stranded.

Apart from GAIL (India) and NTPC, the Maharashtra State Electricity Board, State Bank of India, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank and IFCI also hold a stake in the company.

Power Minister Piyush Goyal said on Wednesday that RGPPL’s board has agreed on a short-term and long-term strategy to revive the LNG terminal and the power plant.

“In the short-term, we expect RGPPL to start generating 500 MW using the gas pooling arrangement where the Power System Development Fund will provide subsidy. The Maharashtra government has waived VAT and other taxes as well as let go of transmission and cross subsidy charges. The power will be supplied to the Railways as the anchor customer,” said Goyal.

Cost saving for Railways

The Railways will get the power at ₹4.79 a unit. Sourcing power from Dabhol will help the Railways save ₹250-300 crore in the short term, said Goyal.

For the long term, RGPPL will be split into two companies — one for the 3-million-tonne-per-annum LNG terminal and the other for 1,967-MW unit — having the same shareholding.

Further investments will be made in the LNG terminal to make it viable on a standalone basis.

Goyal said the power company will go to the market to look for procurers for the remaining capacity over the 500 MW which will be sold to the Indian Railways.

Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO, ICICI Bank, said: “The restarting of the Dabhol power plant will go a long way in boosting the investment climate in the country.”

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