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Monday
Mar 12 2001
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0016 hrs IST
1346 EST
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Row over Dabhol Phase-II tariff
Soma Banerjee & Arshdeep Sehgal
NEW DELHI
THE DABHOL power plant in Maharashtra, which has MSEB as a significant equity holder, is in a piquant position. As the project moves closer to the completion of Phase-II claims and counterclaims are being made on the tariffs projected and actual outgoes of SEB.
The latest to do the round is the current average tariff, which has been submitted to the review committee constituted by the government of Maharashtra.
This comes in the backdrop of the latest move by the energy company to invoke the counter-guarantee the second time in the last few months following non-payment by MSEB,
While the government has claimed that the average tariff of the project is around Rs 5.21 per unit, DPC has maintained that the average tariff up to December since the commissioning of Phase-I is Rs 5.08 per unit.
According to DPC officials and the initial projections the tariff for the second phase is expected to be brought down significantly following the change in fuel to LNG.
However, according to estimates drawn up MSEB, the Phase II tariff will be Rs 5.04 per Kwh for the purchase of 17,218 million units at 90 per cent plant load factor.
This estimate has been drawn on an assumption that the exchange rate of dollar will be at Rs 50.19 by the time the entire project is commissioned. The dollar exchange escalation has been assumed to be 3.5 per cent per year. The LNG price too has been calculated on the basis on a crude oil price of $30 a barrel.
The Maharashtra government has submitted that the monthly bill will be about Rs 723 crore. The fixed cost element, which is payable by MSEB every month whether or not the power is bought would itself be Rs 478 crore.
The monthly collection of MSEB is currently Rs 850 crore and their expenses without DPC power is Rs 950 crore. The question, however, is how MSEB, which was rated as one of the better run SEBs in the country, has come to this state.
Consider this — MSEB has defaulted minimum rate of return for the year 1997-98 and 1998-99. SEB in pursuant to section 2 (V) of the tripartite agreement is liable to pay a guarantee fee of 0.5 per cent on Rs 1,500 crore and 0.75 per cent on Rs 1,500 crore.
The finance ministry hs already written to the state government to advise the entire payable amounts to the RBI.
While the state government has been making a case for the Centre to step in and buy the power, the power ministry has held a view that the agreement is between DPC and MSEB and has to be sorted out bilaterally.
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