Final plan to restart DPC by Oct 13

In an effort to restart Dabhol power plant, Indian lenders led by IDBI will submit a final restructuring proposal to US-based Overseas Private Investment Corporation, one of the foreign lenders, before October 13, 2003, P P Vora, the IDBI chairman and managing director, said on Saturday.

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"OPIC officials met us on September 13 and we have assured them that a final proposal, which will take into account the concerns of all the stakeholders, will be submitted within 30 days," Vora told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on banking hosted by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

The model (proposal) based on the inputs received from financial consultant Rothschild and engineering consultant Tractabel on technical aspects would be discussed with all stakeholders, including GE and Bechtel that hold 10 per cent stake each in DPC, he said.

The final cost of power to the consumer would be around Rs 2.70 per unit, he added.

Asked if the ongoing arbitration proceedings, involving GE and Bechtel, would hamper restarting the project, Vora said, "It is an independent activity and once all stakeholders agree on the new proposal, there are ways to tackle it."

Canara Bank, ICICI Bank and State Bank of India are some of the other domestic lenders who have an exposure of over Rs 6,000 crore (Rs 60 billion) in the project that is located at the Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra.