Subject: from the enron india newsdesk - jan 18 th newsclips
vince ,
fyi .
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01 / 19 / 2001 05 : 12 pm - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
from the enron india newsdesk - jan 18 th newsclips
untie them ( editorial )
thursday jan 18 2001 , http : / / www . economictimes . com / today / 18 edito 2 . htm
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state not to give tax sops to dpc for buying naphtha from ioc , ( sanjay jog )
thursday jan 18
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centre yet to receive proposal on enron
thursday jan 18 2001 , http : / / www . economictimes . com / today / 18 infro 2 . htm
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untie them ( editorial )
thursday jan 18 2001
the government of maharashtra wants new delhi to convince the power trading
corporation , a central utility , to buy power from dabhol and sell it across
the country . it would be far simpler if dabhol and all independent power
producers were allowed to sell power to whoever was willing to pay for
it . that , unfortunately , is not allowed by law , which forces private sector
generators to sell power only to state utilities , which in turn , are not
permitted to sell power across states on their own .
most state electricity boards are bankrupt . mseb reportedly owes central
utilities rs 5 , 000 crore . they cannot bring themselves to charge many types
of users for the power consumed , nor can they prevent large - scale theft of
electricity . few , including wealthy maharashtra , have the will to reform
state electricity boards and privatise transmission and distribution . given
this profile of buyers , private generators demand sovereign guarantees to
help them tide over default risks . but the guarantees merely insulate ipps
against risk . they cannot make sebs solvent . yet , india needs power
desperately . maharashtra , india  , s richest state , experiences power shortages
of around 2 , 000 mw , about a sixth of its peak needs .
over time , the hunger for power will only grow . india cannot afford to wait
for the painful politics of seb reform to work themselves out . the government
should bring in legislation that allows ipps to sell power directly to paying
customers . this will free ipps from the clutches of bankrupt monopsony buyers .
the power trading legislation will have unexpectedly happy consequences for
the government too . once ipps are freed from their onerous obligations to sell
power to single , mostly bankrupt buyers , their default risks will come down
substantially . new delhi and state governments should then scrap the
guarantees that they gave ipps in the past .
the combination of power trading , private investments in generation ,
transmission and distribution , and gradual seb reform will create a
commercial , workable and competitive power market in india . anything less
will be a recipe for disaster .
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state not to give tax sops to dpc for buying naphtha from ioc , ( sanjay jog )
thursday jan 18 2001
the maharshtra government ' s finance department , which is striving to reduce
fiscal deficit from rs 9 , 484 crore to rs 3 , 484 crore by the beginning of
april this year , has expressed its inability to provide a sales tax waiver to
the dabhol power company ( dpc ) on the procurement of 1 . 2 million tonne of
naphtha from the state - run indian oil corporation ( ioc ) .
mantralaya sources told the financial express on wednesday that dpc would
have to pay 4 per cent sales tax . " the government , way back in 1995 , has
modified the sales tax rate to 4 per cent to discourage the import of naphtha
from gujarat by electrical companies operating in maharashtra . the decision
was taken with a view to encouraging electrical companies to procure naphtha
at reduced rates within the state , " government sources added . sources said
that these companies had to pay nearly 15 . 3 per cent sales tax on naphtha
that was procured from gujarat . however , following their representation , the
government slashed the sales tax rate to 4 per cent .
the state finance department ' s opinion , which would be presented before the
state cabinet shortly in order to take a final decision , deserves special
significance especially when the state energy department and the loss - making
maharashtra state electricity board ( mseb ) have wholeheartedly supported the
dpc ' s cause and recommended the sales tax waiver . dpc , which was asked by the
union ministry of oil and petroleum to procure naphtha within the country in
view of excess availability , in its presentation to the state government and
to mseb , had made it clear that it would be left with no alternative but to
pass on the additional burden on the mseb which would be ultimately passed on
to its consumers . dpc had also told the state government that it had not paid
sales tax on the procurement of naphtha from glencore in the calender year
2000 .
sources from the state energy department and mseb have stressed on the need
for such a waiver while expressing their inability to bear additional burden .
they have suggested that the state should reciprocate by offering a sales tax
exemption to dpc because the ioc , at the behest of the centre , has tried to
match the international landing price of naphtha during the recently signed
memorandum of agreement with dpc . " if the state finance department sticks to
its views , it may hurt the state as a whole , " sources from the state energy
department and mseb said . dpc will procure naphtha at rs 11 , 050 per ton from
ioc during the calender year 2001 as compared to the rs 10 , 050 per tonne
price quoted by glencore . the naphtha price comprises $ 175 per tonne free on
board ( fob ) , 21 . 8 per cent of customs duty , 5 . 4 per cent of sales tax and
$ 18 . 87 of premium .
dpc senior vice president mukesh tyagi reiterated that the company has
already made an appeal to the state government for the sales tax waiver on
naphtha in the larger interest of the consumers . " sales tax is a pass through
and mseb , which will have to bear the additional burden , will pass it on the
consumers , " he added .
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centre yet to receive proposal on enron
thursday jan 18 2001
centre on wednesday said that it had not recevied any proposal from
maharashtra government seeking help to solve the tangle with the enron
promoted dhabol power project relating to cost and surplus power . asked about
the reports that maharashtra government was sending a proposal that centre
buy surplus power from dhabol power company through power trading
corporation , power minister suresh prabhu said " we have not received any
proposal . " " we are carefully watching the situation and will await a concrete
proposal before intervening in this matter , " parbhu said on the sidelines of
greentech environment excellence awards ceremony , here . asked whether there
was any possibility of the government asking the power trading corporation to
buy power from the dhabol power corporation , prabhu replied " what will the
ptc do with the power ? "
prabhu had earlier asked the state government to study the matter before
approaching the centre for payment of dues . mseb had earlier declined to pick
up its 15 per cent stake in phase ii of the 1444 mw project . the enron issue
has been hanging fire with the maharashtra state electricity board unable to
clear the dues of dpc as a result of the skyrocketing prices of naphtha
infact mseb has asked dpc to backdown completely leading to a situation where
dpc has stopped production at the facility from the begining of the
month . state government has stepped in with support to the tune of rs 114
crore to enable mseb to clear the dues for october . mseb dues to dpc for
november and december amount to over rs 300 crores .