The DPC president and chief executive officer Neil McGregor confirmed that DPC has received a cheque of Rs 10 crore from the MSEB towards the November bill. "This is a welcome gesture and a positive sign from the MSEB. However, MSEB has yet to pay the balance towards its November and December bill although the 30-day period for that is over," he commented.

DPC spokesman Jimmy Mogal said, "MSEB's total outstandings till December 2000 stands at Rs 238 crore (Rs 79 for November and Rs 159 crore for Decmeber)."

Curiously, MSEB sources told The Financial Express that although it had paid Rs 10 crore to DPC towards the November power purchase bill, it was not in a position to make full payment in the near future. "The board cannot further defer the payments of various other agencies such as coal companies and railways at the cost of DPC bills," these sources added.

Meanwhile, state government sources said that the payment of Rs 10 crore by MSEB to the DPC was the result of a meeting between the state energy secretary Vinay Mohan Lal and Mr McGregor and DPC senior vice president Mukesh Tyagi which took place on late Thursday evening. Both Mr McGregor and Mr Tyagi had expressed optimism during an hour-long meeting on Thursday and had hoped that a crisis would not be further precipitated. Interestingly, Mr McGregor and Mr Tyagi had told Mr Lal that the DPC can consider the various possibilities of a reduction in the per unit cost for Dabhol phase-I. "However, no proper forum is available for such discussions," Mr McGregor and Mr Tyagi reportedly told Mr Lal. Both Mr McGregor and Mr Tyagi have believed to have told Mr Lal that the company was quite anxiously waiting for the formation of an expert group and would extend all necessary cooperation.