Dabhol Power Company

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The Dabhol Power Company (now called RGPPL - Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Limited) was a company based in Maharashtra, India, formed in 1992 to manage and operate the controversial Dabhol Power Plant.^[1] The Dabhol plant was built through the combined effort of Enron as the majority share holder, and GE, and Bechtel as minority share holders.^[2] GE provided the generating turbines to Dabhol, Bechtel constructed the physical plant, and Enron was charged with managing the project through Enron International.^[3] From 1992 to 2001, the construction and operation of the plant was mired in controversies related to corruption in Enron and at the highest political levels in India and the United States (Clinton administration and Bush administration).^[4] The price that the state electricity board would have to pay for electricity produced by DPC (8 Rs/unit) was more than 20 times what it paid for hydroelectricity (Rs. 0.35/unit).^[5]

In 1998, MSEB purchased half of Enron's equity stake. In May 1999, the power plant began producing energy. In January 2001 the state of Maharashtra stopped paying DPC and sought to cancel the purchase agreement. In May 2001, the power plant ran into further trouble due to Enron scandal leading to the bankruptcy of Enron and had to stop production.^[6]

In 2005, it was taken over and revived by converting it into the RGPPL (Ratnagiri Gas and Power Private Limited), a company owned by the Government of India.^[7]