State-run gas firm GAIL (India) will infuse an additional Rs 475 crore equity in Dabhol power project to help the beleaguered unit complete the construction of an attached liquefied natural gas terminal.GAIL currently holds 28.33% in Ratnagiri Gas and Power, the company which took over the Dabhol power plant after bankruptcy of US energy major Enron Corp.After the infusion of additional funds, its equity stake would rise to 32.88%, RGPPL sources said.State-run power firm NTPC, which also holds 28.33% stake in RGPPL, will invest Rs 475 crore, while Maharasthra State Electricity Board (MSEB), having 15% stake, would put in Rs 250 crore.RGPPL needs Rs 1,200 crore to complete the receipt facility and build breakwater.MSEB, the sole purchaser of power from the plant, will see its stake rise to 17.37%, while equity of financial institutions, who are not investing fresh funds, would fall to 16.83% from 28.33%.GAIL, NTPC and FIs had infused Rs 500 crore equity each in RGPPL to takeover Dabhol two years ago. MSEB had at that time provided only Rs 265 crore.The sources said GAIL board yesterday approved the proposal to pump in additional equity on the condition that the money would be used only for completing the 5 million tonne a year LNG import terminal and that other promoters also make their contributions.GAIL has also conditioned the additional funds on getting rights to market the LNG left after generating power at the project on the Maharashtra coast. RGPPL needs 2.1 million tonne of LNG per annum for generating 2,184 MW power, leaving 2.9 million tonne of LNG for sale to other users.The Dabhol power plant in Maharashtra has been shut since last week after gas supplies to the beleaguered project were stopped due to a court order on pricing of the fuel.The operations of a 740-MW unit was stopped last week.RGPPL switched from naphtha to LNG for power block-II (740 MW) on August 4 after a GAIL pipeline supplied re-gasified LNG, imported by Petronet LNG, at Dahej in Gujarat.The sources said the revival of power block-III (740 MW) was under progress and was likely to be available for generation on gas by August 31.The 670-MW block-I would be ready for operations only by November, they said.
