Maharashtra deputy chief minister Gopinath Munde said that had it been mandatory for Enron to source distillate oil only from IOC, the company would have to pay 1.5 per cent commission, which would have resulted in a hike in the power tariff. Under the fuel-supply agreement, power producers were required to either source their requirements through oil public-sector units (PSUs), like IOC, or form a consortium which, in turn, would set up the facilities to import fuel.

Munde, who met the union power minister R Kumaramangalam on Wednesday, said that the first phase of the Dabhol power project would be commissioned this December, while the financial closurefor the second phase was likely to be made during the same time.

On the fate of Rs 1,411-crore 410mw combined-cycle project by Reliance at Patalganga, Munde said that the installed capacity would not be taken as 447 mw as prescribed by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA) while according techno-economic clearance in January 1998, and should not be the basis of tariff calculations. He said he had written to Kumaramangalam that the CEA's stipulation was unusual, as it had not been prescribed for any combined project either before or after the clearance given to this one.

Munde said that in the power-purchase agreement (PPA) signed between the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) and Reliance, the gross capacity agreed to was 410 mw to be delivered constantly under varying conditions throughout the contract period. The gross capacity indicated by the CEA, however, was 447 mw.

"It has been clarified in the techno-economic clearance committee meeting to the CEA that to deliver 410 mw of power undervarying conditions, a plant with capacity of 447 mw would require to be set up," he added.

Munde said that both the state government and Reliance had reiterated that the installed capacity of 447 mw was not the contractual capacity. As per the terms of the PPA, Reliance is obliged to give power continuously under conditions of varying temperatures, change of fuel, varying system parameters and plant-ageing effects, and also ensure 90 per cent plant-load factor (PLF) for the PPA's whole term. "As such, it is necessary for them to have adequate provision to meet this contracted obligation of 410mw constant generation from this project. Contractually, it is not possible for any plant to deliver installed- capacity output continuously for 20 years. Hence, the installed capacity has to be more than the contractual capacity to take care of variation in system parameter, ambient condition and ageing effect of plant due to normal wear and tear," Munde said.

In case of the 1,082mw thermal-based Bhadravati project,Munde said that the centre would give counter-guarantee by July 31, and the financial closure was expected by December this year. The union coal ministry has agreed to allot new coalfields near the project site if the judgment in the writ petition filed by the former BJP MP Banwarilal Purohit in the Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court goes against the state government and MSEB. "Under such circumstances, the Ispat group will surrender the present coalfields to the coal ministry and will be allotted new ones," he noted.