RayfordFvx at 19:57, 17 July 2025

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{{Short description|Power station in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2016}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox power station
|name = Dabhol Power Station
|image = (1) Dabhol Ratnagiri gas thermal power plant, from Anjanvel lighthouse, India 2012.jpg
|country = India
|location = Anjanwel, [[Ratnagiri district]], [[Maharashtra]]
|coordinates = {{coord|17|33|35|N|73|9|59|E|type:landmark_region:IN|display=inline,title}}
|owner = [[Ratnagiri Gas and Power]]
|status = Operational
|th_fuel_primary = [[LNG]]
|th_combined_cycle =
|commissioned = 2000
|decommissioned =
}}
'''Dabhol Power Station''' is located near Anjanwel village in [[Ratnagiri district]] in [[Maharashtra]], [[India]], about {{convert|160|km|mi}} south of [[Mumbai]]. The power station was built by the [[Dabhol Power Company]] (DPC), which was a [[joint venture]] of [[Enron International]], [[General Electric]], [[Bechtel]] and Maharashtra Power Development Corporation.<ref name=scribd-casestudy>{{cite web|url=https://www.scribd.com/doc/21107040/Dabhol-Power-Company |title=Case Study: Dabhol Power Company Limited|date=2009-10-12|access-date=2011-11-01}}</ref> At the start of its construction in 1992, the Dabhol power station project was, at $3 billion, the biggest foreign investment in India. The project was mired in controversy from its inception, which would escalate so dramatically that it affected politics and foreign policy at the national level.<ref name="factsheet">{{cite web |author=Minority Staff Committee on Government Reform |title=FACT SHEET - Background on Enron's Dabhol Power Project |date=22 February 2002 |url=http://www.finance-mba.com/Dabhol_fact_sheet.pdf |publisher=U.S. House of Representatives |access-date=25 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161025181723/http://www.finance-mba.com/Dabhol_fact_sheet.pdf |archive-date=25 October 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== History ==
The Dabhol Power Station was the largest foreign investment project in India at the time. Until then, Western companies and investors had avoided India. Planners at the Enron Corporation, a major partner in the project, advised against starting projects in India due its [[Energy policy of India|inefficient and government-controlled energy system]].<ref name="McLean, Bethany. 2003">{{Cite book|last=McLean, Bethany.|title=The smartest guys in the room : the amazing rise and scandalous fall of Enron|date=2003|publisher=Portfolio|others=Elkind, Peter.|isbn=1-59184-008-2|location=New York|oclc=52418094}}</ref> Construction of the Dabhol Power Station was planned to be completed in two phases. The first phase was a 740 MW unit to use [[naphtha]] as the fuel. Construction started in 1992 and finally completed in May 1999.<ref name=at-enron8/> The next phase was 1700 MW of units using [[liquefied natural gas]] (LNG) as fuel. At its height, the construction of the Dabhol power station employed 15,000 people.<ref name=gasandoil>{{Cite web |url=http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/company/cns23252.htm |title=Enron's Dabhol Power project is now a rusty ghost town |access-date=25 October 2009 |archive-date=20 October 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101020201351/http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/company/cns23252.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

==Controversies with Enron - building, pricing and operations==

The power project ran into trouble due to the 1993 [[power purchase agreement]] between [[Enron International]] (EI) and the state's power utility, [[Maharashtra State Electricity Board]] (MSEB). The agreement negotiation lacked transparency, and details had not been made public.<ref name=nyt-restarting>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/business/global/23enron.html?sq=india&st=cse&scp=14&pagewanted=2|title=India's Woes Reflected in Bid to Restart Old Plant|work=The New York Times|date=2010-03-22|access-date=2011-11-01|first=Vikas|last=Bajaj}}</ref> For several years, the [[World Bank]] objected to the project. The controversy helped a [[Bharatiya Janata Party|Bhartiya Janata Party]]-[[Shiv Sena]] coalition win the [[1995 Maharashtra Legislative Assembly election]] on a [[Election promise|campaign pledge]] to "push Enron into the [[Arabian Sea]]." The state government halted the construction on 3 August 1995. By 1996, the MSEB and EI renegotiated the contract so that EI would cut power costs by 20 percent, but that the MSEB would be obligated to purchase more power.<ref name="McLean, Bethany. 2003"/> In 2000, MSEB was paying DPC ₹4.67/kwh while the tariff that MSEB charged its customers was ₹1.89/kwh.<ref name=nyt-restarting/>

Due to political controversies related to the high pricing of power from the station and allegations of corruption,<ref name=at-enron8>{{cite news|url=http://www.atimes.com/reports/ca13ai01.html|title=Enron's eight-year power struggle in India|publisher=Asia Times|date=2001-01-18|access-date=2011-11-01 |url-status=unfit|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123172057/http://www.atimes.com/reports/ca13ai01.html |archive-date=2011-11-23}}</ref> the construction and operation of the Dabhol power station was interrupted on several occasions even after it started operation in May 1999. In January 2001, the Maharashtra state government stopped paying the company due to the high cost of power charged by them. Subsequently, high-level US Government officials including [[Colin Powell]], [[Dick Cheney]], [[Christina B. Rocca|Christina B.Rocca]] and [[Alan Larson]] tried to convince the Indian authorities to pay Enron and allow them to continue its operations at Dabhol.<ref name="factsheet" /> However, in November 2001, due to the [[Enron bankruptcy]] and disputes between Enron's creditors and the [[Government of Maharashtra]] (GoM) the plant was shut down. The power plant was finally rehabilitated and taken over by [[Ratnagiri Gas and Power]] (RGPPL), which successfully revived and operates the plant.<ref name=rgppl>{{cite web|url=http://www.rgppl.com/|title=Home|publisher=Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Limited|access-date=2011-11-01}}</ref>

By 2001, there were a number of political controversies brewing over the [[power purchase agreement]]. The price paid by MSEB for power from the Dabhol station was over twice that from other power stations in the state.<ref name=at-enron8/> With escalating tensions between MSEB, GoM and DPC, operation of Phase I and construction of Phase II came to a halt in May 2001. With the [[Enron bankruptcy]], Enron's stake in DPC was bought out by GE and Bechtel.

The plant was moth-balled for 5 years, while the various claimants, including MSEB, Government of Maharashtra, GE, Bechtel, Indian banks and the [[Government of India]], settled their disputes over payments.

In May 2006, after protracted negotiations, state-owned [[NTPC Limited]] and [[GAIL]] agreed to take over the power station. RGPPL was floated as a joint-venture between these two companies to own and operate the Dabhol power station.<ref name=rgppl/> However, the revival proved difficult due to 3 catastrophic breakdowns in the equipment supplied by GE.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/23/business/global/23enron.html?sq=india&st=cse&scp=14&pagewanted=2 | work=The New York Times | first=Vikas | last=Bajaj | title=India's Woes Reflected in Bid to Restart Old Plant | date=2010-03-22}}</ref>

After repairs to the equipment, the power station resumed operations at 100% of its installed capacity of 1967 MW in 2010, however it has had to often stop operation due to losses and a lack of buyers for its expensive electricity.<ref name="mint">{{cite news|title=Dabhol power project to be split into two companies to revive plant|url=http://www.livemint.com/Industry/x5Tn0EnfoxhSrf5sjXV4AK/Dabhol-power-project-to-be-split-into-two-companies-to-reviv.html|access-date=28 October 2016|publisher=The Mint|date=30 September 2015}}</ref>

As of 2016, the power plant continues to operate at a loss, selling energy to the [[MSEDCL]] and [[Indian Railways]] at a highly inflated rate. In 2015, it had a debt of Rs. 10,500 crore. In a bid to revive the loss making plant, in September 2015, the Company owning the power plant RGPPL was split into two separate Power and LNG entities, one to manage the power plant and the other to manage the import of LNG.<ref name="mint"/>

===Closure of corruption case===
On 11 April 2019 the [[Supreme Court of India|Supreme Court in India]] closed the case of alleged corruption. Chief Justice [[Ranjan Gogoi]] and Justices [[Deepak Gupta (judge)|Deepak Gupta]] and [[Sanjiv Khanna]] allowed the plea of the Maharashtra government to end the case, citing its 22-year duration.<ref>[https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/power/enron-dabhol-power-project-supreme-court-closes-case-of-alleged-corruption/articleshow/68827982.cms Enron-Dabhol power project: Supreme Court closes case of alleged corruption ''The Economic Times'' 11 April 2019]</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Energy}}
*[[Dabhol Power Company]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Power Plants of Maharashtra}}

[[Category:Natural gas-fired power stations in Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Economy of Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Enron]]
[[Category:Ratnagiri district]]
[[Category:2000 establishments in Maharashtra]]
[[Category:Energy infrastructure completed in 2000]]
[[Category:20th-century architecture in India]]

Dabhol Power Station - Revision history

RayfordFvx at 19:57, 17 July 2025