Enron Chief Coming In July

US energy major Enron chairman Kenneth Lay will visit India in July second week and hold discussions with the Centre on the fate of the Dabhol Power Company (DPC), locked in a dispute with the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB), even as other states are now willing to buy its power at an affordable price.

Enron India managing director K Wade Cline has informed me in a communication that Lay will be in India in the second week of July, either on the 9th of 10th, but he will be in Delhi.., chairman of the renegotiation committee Madhav Godbole told reporters here today after the committee meeting.

In the 90 minute meeting, several proposals were discussed by the panel with DPC president Neil McGregor, in the absence of Enron India chief K Wade Cline, and a specific one being the willingness of other states to offtake DPC's power, he said.

We informed the DPC representatives that seven to eight states have evinced interest in their power and the committee is scheduled to meet the states on July 26 in Mumbai to assess the situation, Godbole said.

He said the states' meeting would revolve around crucial issues like the nature of the offtake, whether it will be for baseload power or peak load, at what price they were ready to buy and what will be the payment arrangement.

The fifth round of the renegotiations would be held on July 27, in which the committee would appraise DPC officials about the states' demands and expectations, he said.

Godbole said in its set of proposals, the multinational has maintained that the offtake of power should be at a 90 per cent plant load factor from the entire 2,184 mw project. (PTI)