The meeting between the Madhav Godbole renegotiating committee and the Enron-promoted Dabhol Power Company (DPC) has been advanced to June 19 from June 30.
This has been done in the wake of the Bombay High Court's June 12 order directing DPC and the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) to try and find an amicable solution to the vexed problem of the high tariffs charged by the Enron-promoted company.
MSEB sources said the meeting will be coordinated by former Union power secretary, E A S Sarma as the committee chairman Madhav Godbole is abroad and will not be able to attend the meeting. The Union government's nominee A V Gokak too will be present at the meeting.
The other members of the panel include MSEB chairman Vinay Bansal and Maharashtra energy secretary V M Lal.
The two sides have also been feuding on the jurisdiction of the state power regulator Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission to resolve various issues pertaining to arbitration.
MSEB has been contending that MERC is the right forum while DPC moved the Bombay High Court on June 11 contesting this. A division bench of the Bombay High Court consisting of justice A P Shah and justice S A Bobde had ruled that the two parties first try to find an amicable solution first outside the court. The next hearing on the issue is slated for June 21.
Meanwhile on Friday, DPC at a meeting with MSEB, the state government officials and domestic and foreign lenders requested the state electricity board to buy power from its 740 MW first phase again.
MSEB had rescinded the PPA and stopped purchasing DPC power from May 29 in retaliation to the preliminary termination notice served by the independent power company.
MSEB has taken then line that it will have to look at the legal implications of buying power again as it has already rescinded the PPA.
DPC has also informed MSEB that it was prepared to accept the April and May bills. MSEB officials said the bills should be adjusted against a penalty of Rs 300 crore that it had slapped on DPC for not supplying power on time.
At the meeting, lenders too tried to impress upon MSEB the necessity of accepting DPC's request to supply power.
R S Agarwal, executive director, Industrial Development Bank of India said, "There is room for arriving at an amicable solution. MSEB has to look at the request made by DPC in a positive light. At the same time, it should be at a reasonable price."
MSEB and state government officials made the point that the final solution to the vexed problem lies with the Central government taking a proactive stand.
