NEW DELHI, May 1 (UPI) -- The restarting of India's Dabhol power plant is expected to be delayed after Gujarat state asked Gas Authority of India Ltd. to suspend work on a gas pipeline.
The Gujarat government directed the state-owned gas major to suspend work on a 7-mile stretch that passes through Surat where farmers want a higher price for their land, The Business Line newspaper said Tuesday.
The company said neighboring Maharashtra state would lose 700 megawatts of power it was scheduled to receive by June from the Dabhol plant if the Dahej-Uran section of the pipeline is delayed.
Maharashtra faces an acute shortage of power and is heavily dependent on the restarting of the Dabhol plant.
Maharashtra Energy Minister Dalip Walse Patil said if Dabhol runs smoothly and produces 2,100 MW of power by December, the state would be able to reduce its peak shortage by 40 percent next summer.
"For the past 30 years, gas from Bombay High is being supplied to Gujarat. A large part of upcoming Kakinada-Ahmedabad gas pipeline would pass through Maharashtra. But we have never opposed or raised any controversial issue with Gujarat," Patil said.
"We want an amicable settlement of the current problem," he said.
