Showing posts with label AP Power cut. Show all posts
Showing posts with label AP Power cut. Show all posts

Sunday, August 5, 2012

The long shadow of Enron on powerless Andhra Pradesh

Rebecca Mark, once one of the most powerful business person in USA probably never visited Andhra Pradesh. She had cast a magic spell on greedy politicians, bureaucrats  and Financial institutes in India and also in many other countries. In the highly inflated Enron plant cost estimates, she made liberal provision to educate Indian people. But we never tried to learn.
Enron exposed in USA went bankrupt in 2001but plant at Ratnagiri was salvaged with public money in India.NTPC and GAIl were made to pump money and everyone knows that plant will never break even even after writing off all bank loans by buying the feed LNG from market. Writing off investment would invite caustic comments by CAG and the only alternative left to the promoter GAIL is to keep the sick plant on notionally alive category is to pump low cost gas from KG fields whether A.P likes it or not. 
All the suppliers to Enron made money by supplying plant and parts that could not be used, Indian FIs wrote off investment, NTPC & GAIL the public sector undertakings had been made to pump public money to keep the lid on. And who would  have imagined dining and wining of sexy Rebecca by Indian politicians would switch off power to million homes in distant place called Andha Pradesh. 

Monday, March 21, 2011

Power cuts in AP and KG gas availability

AP is reeling under power cuts. Where is the problem?
As per reports, Andhra Pradesh has gas-based power generation capacity of 2,700 MW but due to inadequate pipeline infrastructure produces only about 1900 MW. At the same time there is news on Reliance and GAIL swapping deal valid May 31-  Reliance will supply nearly 2.6 million cubic metres a day (mmscmd) of gas, currently used by customers in Gujarat, to power producers in Andhra Pradesh. This will result in generation of 600MW of power.

If pipe line capacity is a constraint, how  is this additional quantity distributed. If this additional quantity is coming thru existing pipeline, why make this a temporary arrangement?