General Electric, one of the minority stakeholders in the beleaguered Dabhol power project, today expressed hope that an amicable solution would be arrived at within six months.
"Technical and engineering solutions are easy. It is the financial issue that need to be resolved," Scott Bayman, president and CEO of GE India, told newspersons after a seminar here.
GE holds a 10 per cent stake in Dabhol Power Company along with Bechtel, while the Maharashtra State Electricity Board holds 15 per cent and Enron the remaining 65 per cent.
Bayman said though GE had requested the stakeholders in the project, including the finance and power ministries, to settle their financial dues, it was holding negotiations with the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) on the modalities of restarting the plant at the earliest.
On the schedule for restarting the plant, Bayman said: "It is a complex issue and cannot be resolved overnight. But we are hopeful of a solution in six months."
The foreign lenders to the project have started arbitration proceedings in London against their Indian counterparts for having "blocked them from pursuing rights embodied in the financing documents".
They have filed a notice for arbitration under the provisions of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law.
The domestic lenders include the Industrial Development Bank of India, ICICI Bank, the State Bank of India, and IFCI. Bayman said all the stakeholders were engaged in talks to preserve their legal rights.
