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Enron Mail |
Gentlemen:
The following appeared on Reuters today. I actually think it is fairly helpful to our cause. Jim BOMBAY, Jan 7 (Reuters) - The Indian government has asked the western state of Maharashtra to work out ways to pay outstanding dues to U.S. energy giant Enron Corp (NYSE:ENE - news), media reports said on Sunday. Enron has threatened to invoke letters of credit (LC) and the federal government's counter guarantee. ``The state government has to work on the issue,'' the Press Trust of India said, quoting unnamed official sources. The Economic Times on Sunday said that the lenders to Enron's local unit, Dabhol Power Company, were meeting on Tuesday in New York to discuss the inability of the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) to clear its dues. ``As a result of MSEB's mounting dues Enron said it would be forced to invoke the LC,'' the newspaper said. The report said the MSEB had outstanding dues worth 2.62 billion rupees ($56.15 million). Enron's local unit said on Friday it will lower tariffs from next month in a bid to defuse criticism that it charges higher rates for the electricity it produces in Maharashtra state. Last month, the Maharashtra government decided to review the rate at which it buys power from Enron's Dabhol Power, saying the high cost was threatening its finances. Enron is spending about $1.9 billion to build a facility to generate 2,184 MW of electricity. India, which needs to generate an additional 100,000 MW of power within the next decade to meet growing demand, is desperate to attract foreign capital. But after nearly a decade of liberalisation, Enron is among the few private power companies to begin generating power in India.
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