The Rajasthan government has asked the ministry of petroleum and natural gas to instruct Gail (India) Ltd to supply of 1.5 mmscmd gas to the 330-mw Dholpur combined cycle power project of Rajasthan Rajya Utpadan Vidyut Nigam Ltd. The gas is required to fire the 220-mw gas-based component of the proposed plant. The rest of the capacity is being operated through coal.
Senior officials in the Rajasthan government told Projectswire that Gail authorities were neither agreeing to supply the contracted quantity of 1.5 mmscmd gas to the power plant nor making alternate arrangements. Instead, they said Gail was diverting available gas to other less important sectors.
The gas sale purchase agreement for the project envisages gas supply for a period of 12 years, which can be extended later. Under this agreement, Gail has to supply 1.5 million standard cubic metre of gas per day at a price of $4.6 per mmbtu. The actual annual value of this agreement will depend on the calorific value of the supplied gas.
The Dholpur power project was set up at a total cost of Rs 1,155 crore. However, smooth operations at the plant have been marred for various reasons like shortage of gas and, as a result, RUVNL has not been able to put its gas-based units into commercial operation.