Dabhol project: NTPC set to buy GAIL’s 25.51% share in Ratnagiri Gas & Power Pvt Ltd

• NTPC said that it has signed a share purchase agreement in this regard and after the stake acquisition, NTPC's share in the Dabhol project will go up to 86.49 percent

• NTPC has also said that it will exit KLPL, the LNG regasification facility of the erstwhile Dabhol power project, after selling its 14.82 percent stake

New Delhi: NTPC Limited is set to purchase GAIL (India) Ltd's share in Ratnagiri Gas & Power Pvt Ltd (RGPPL), the state-run power utility said in a regulatory filing to the stock exchanges on Tuesday. GAIL holds 25.51 percent share in the Ratnagiri gas & power project, which is also known as the Dabhol project. NTPC said that it has signed a share purchase agreement in this regard and after the stake acquisition, NTPC's share in the Dabhol project will go up to 86.49 percent.

The Ratnagiri gas and power project is an integrated gas-based power generation based in Maharashtra. It is one of India's largest gas-based combined cycle power station.

Ratnagiri Gas & Power Pvt Limited

Ratnagiri Gas & Power Pvt Limited was founded in 2005 to take over and revive the Dabhol power company project which had been mired in controversies between 1992 and 2001, before it had started producing electricity. The company was linked to a corruption case that involved its then owner Texas-based Enron and the highest political levels in India and the US. After RGPPL took over the power project in 2005, NTPC and GAIL became co-promoters. 

Since the Dabhol power plant had been making losses, the project, which had an LNG regasification facility as well, was split into two entities — RGPPL and Konkan LNG Private Limited (KLPL) in 2015. 

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In the regulatory filing, NTPC has also said that it will exit KLPL after selling its 14.82 percent stake in the facility on fully dilutive basis. "After transfer of shares as per the Share Purchase Agreements, NTPC will exit from KLL and NTPC's shareholding in RGPPL will become 86.49 percent," NTPC has said in the regulatory filing.

The backdrop

In January this year, NTPC had announced the acquisition of 37.47 percent stake in RGPPL from its lenders. The stake acquisition assumes significance as the government has announced its intention to increase the share of natural gas in India's economy from the current 6 percent to 15 percent by 2030. The government has been making efforts to improve the availability of gas throughout the country for transport, industries, and power generation. India has about 24 GW of stranded gas-based power generation assets. 

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