Mumbai
India's largest state electricity board (SEB), the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) got a new head on 20 May. Yashwant Bhave, the erstwhile principal secretary in the state's industries department, was appointed as the new chairman of MSEB.
An Indian Administrative Services offer of the 1972 cadre, the Harvard-educated Bhave replaces Bengali bureaucrat Asoke Basak who is now new principal secretary - planning in Maharashtra.
The changeover comes at a time when MSEB, which has a 30% stake in the Enron-backed Dabhol power project, is ina Catch-22 situation. If MSEB wants to retain its current stake, it has to further pump in money in the dosen't, then its stake could fall to as low as 5%.
MSEB has already shelled out more than Rs 700 crore (part-financed by a Rs 400-crore bond issue) in DPC to pick up a 30% stake in DPC. This was done during Basak's time.
Basak who was the chairman for the past two years has been no stronger to controversy. BEfore he took over this post, he was the state energy secretary in the thick of the famous controversy during Enron's startup phase.
During his MSEB stint, Basak government controls. In fact, he was experimenting with a privatisation model in Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra. He has also been widening the paying customer base to offset the subsidies given to the agricultural sector.
