Stinson/Vince,

Some news articles.  Do read the first one, and the second last one.

Regards,
Sandeep.
---------------------- Forwarded by Sandeep Kohli/ENRON_DEVELOPMENT on 
05/07/2001 09:10 AM ---------------------------


Nikita Varma
05/07/2001 07:42 AM
To: Nikita Varma/ENRON_DEVELOPMENT@ENRON_DEVELOPMENT
cc:  (bcc: Sandeep Kohli/ENRON_DEVELOPMENT)

Subject: From The Enron India Newsdesk - May 5-7 newsclips


THE ECONOMIC TIMES, MAY 7, 2001
http://www.economictimes.com/today/bn04.htm
Enron CEO casts vote to save DPC, Tina Edwin & Soma Banerjee 
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THE ECONOMIC TIMES, MAY 7, 2001
http://www.economictimes.com/today/07econ10.htm
Maha sore over delay in naming Godbole  nominee 
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THE TIMES OF INDIA, 7 May, 2001
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/07busi3.htm
Maharashtra 'unhappy' with delay in naming Godbole nominee 
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BUSINESS STANDARD, Monday, 7 May 2001
http://www.business-standard.com/archives/2001/may/50050501.015.asp
Reliance allowed to hawk power from Patalganga to third parties 
Arijit De, S Ravindran & Renni Abraham in Mumbai
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THE ECONOMIC TIMES, MAY 7, 2001
http://www.economictimes.com/today/07econ11.htm
No need of Patalganga, Bhadravati power: MSEB 

Also appeared in the following newspaper:
THE TIMES OF INDIA, MAY 7, 2001
'No need of Patalganga, Bhadravati power' 
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BUSINESS STANDARD, MAY 7, 2001
http://www.business-standard.com/today/finance9.asp?Menu=5
Global bankers ask govt to honour DPC  obligations 
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BUSINESS STANDARD
Saturday, 5 May, 2001, 
http://www.business-standard.com/archives/2001/may/50050501.017.asp
GE may pull out as DPC supplier , S Ravindran in Mumbai
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HINDU BUSINESSLINE, May 5, 2001
Agenda for fresh talks with Enron chalked out 
 http://www.indiaserver.com/businessline/2001/05/06/stories/14065607.htm
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THE ECONOMIC TIMES, May 6, 2001
http://216.34.146.167:8000/servlet/Form
Godbole panel meets sans Dabhol representation 
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THE ECONOMIC TIMES, May 5, 2001
http://216.34.146.167:8000/servlet/Form
NTPC not to buy power from Enron: Govt
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THE TIMES OF INDIA, May 7, 2001
http://www.timesofindia.com/today/07busi11.htm
MSEB recovers Rs 3.06 cr arrears in one day 
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THE ECONOMIC TIMES, MAY 7, 2001
Enron CEO casts vote to save DPC, Tina Edwin & Soma Banerjee 
 
AMUL'S creative directors may have gone back to ad-libbing 'Enron or 
Enr-off', but for the big kahuna at the American utility, Dabhol is still a 
worthwhile project. While the entire Enron board had almost decided to call 
it quits and proceed with the termination of the $2.9-billion  power project 
at Dabhol, the veto exercised by the  company chairman Kenneth Lay has saved 
the project *- at least for the timebeing. Sources said the meeting held on 
Tuesday at the energy major's headquarters in Houston could have sounded the 
death knell for the only big foreign investment in the Indian power sector. 

Although the future of the project is still pretty uncertain with the lenders 
unwilling to continue disbursements unless payment obligations are not 
honoured and contractual obligations left unfulfilled, the veto exercised at 
this juncture by the chairman of the parent company has come as a big boost 
to the Indian venture. Company sources said: "We do not know what went on  
there but it is true that as of now we are not pulling out."  With the 
engineering procurement and construction contractors GE and equipment 
suppliers Bechtel too in a  cautious mode mode, DPC was finding it even more 
difficult to continue the construction of the project as per the schedules. 
Sources said the stand taken by the rest of the directors on the board would 
be in view of the backlash that the company would have to face from its 
shareholders if the  project actually flopped.Enron had similar bitter 
experiences in Pakistan and it was difficult for the parent company to then 
justify such investments to the shareholders. 

Enron, which had planned a major investments in India's infrastructure 
sectors such as oil and gas, LNG, gas transportation, telecom and broadband 
network, has already pulled out most of their personnel from some of these 
operations. The company's MoUs with various other majors like Indian Oil 
Corporation, too, is in a limbo and the US major's stake in the oil and gas 
venture is up for grabs. However, even though Lay is still hoping to find a 
solution  to the controversy back home, both DPC and MSEB are still to get 
down to negotiations.
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THE ECONOMIC TIMES, MAY 7, 2001
Maha sore over delay in naming Godbole  nominee 

THE MAHARASHTRA government has expressed 'unhappiness' over the Centre's 
delay in appointing its nominee on the nine-member Godbole Committee to  
renegotiate the power purchase agreement signed between  Enron-promoted 
Dabhol Power Company and state   electricity board. "The committee, which is 
to hold discussions with Enron  officials from Houston on May 11, has only a 
month's time  for renegotiations and with DPC's termination notice threat  
hanging on our head, time is actually running out. Yet  there is no official 
to represent the Union government," said  a senior state government official. 
"There are media reports that the solicitor-general Harish  Salve would be 
appointed, but we are yet to hear anything   from their side," he said. 

The official said the state expected Centre to announce its  representative 
before May 11, as it would appreciate his  crucial presence in the first 
session of discussions with  Enron officials, lenders and gas suppliers. 
Sources in the mantralaya added the government had also   been unhappy over 
the Centre's "rigid stand" on not allowing State-owned National Thermal Power 
Corporation   to buy the excess capacity of DPC's total 2,184-mw  project. 
"Let NTPC and Power Trading Corporation of India come together and sell DPC's 
surlpus power. We have already mooted this suggestion, but a favourable reply 
is yet to  come from the union power ministry," the official said. 
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THE TIMES OF INDIA, 7 May, 2001
Maharashtra 'unhappy' with delay in naming Godbole nominee 

 The Maharashtra government has expressed 'unhappiness' over the Centre's 
delay in appointing its   nominee on the nine-member Godbole committee to 
renegotiate the power purchase agreement (PPA) signed between Enron promoted 
Dabhol Power Company  (DPC) and the Maharashtra State Electricity Board  
(MSEB). "The committee, which is to hold discussions with Enron officials 
from Houston on May 11, has only a month's  time for renegotiations and with 
DPC's termination notice threat hanging on our head, time is actually running 
out. Yet there is no official to represent the Union government," a senior 
state government official said here on Sunday. "There are media reports that 
solicitor general Harish   Salve would be appointed, but we are yet to hear 
anything from their side," he said. 

The official said that the state expected the Centre to announce their 
representative before May 11, as it would appreciate his crucial presence in 
the first session of discussions with Enron officials, lenders and gas 
suppliers. Sources in the Mantralaya added that the government had also been 
unhappy over the Centre's rigid stand on  not allowing state-owned National 
Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to buy the excess capacity of DPC's total 
2,184 mw project. "Let NTPC and Power Trading Corporation of India (PTC) come 
together and sell DPC's surlpus power. We have already mooted this 
suggestion, but a favourable reply is yet to come from the Union power 
ministry," the official said. The official said that the Centre, which was 
also responsible for DPC project as it has provided counter guarantee to 
Enron India, should form a special purpose  vehicle for sale of the excess 
power to other states. The state government's reaction comes in wake of Union 
power minister Suresh Prabhu's discussion with Chief Minister Vilasrao 
Deshmukh in Delhi few days ago. It was learnt that Prabhu told Deshmukh 
"there is no question of NTPC buying power from the project since long term 
PPAs have been signed by NTPC with the buying states". 

Deshmukh had suggested that the Central power utility should sell excess 
power over and above the 300-400 mw needed for the state from the DPC's 740 
mw  phase-I and soon to be commissioned phase-II of 1,444  mw, to other needy 
states. Considering the high cost of power generated from DPC,   which during 
the recent months has hovered around Rs 7 per unit as against an average cost 
of Rs 2.30-2.80 a unit  from Central and state utilities, there would be few 
takers for the power from Dabhol, the power minister  reportedly said. 
"Deficit states will buy DPC power only when the cost of  power is brought 
down," he said, adding power ministry  would facilitate wheelng of this power 
to the buyers.
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BUSINESS STANDARD, Monday, 7 May 2001
Reliance allowed to hawk power from Patalganga to third parties 
Arijit De, S Ravindran & Renni Abraham in Mumbai

 In an unusual departure from normal practice, the Maharashtra government has 
allowed the Reliance  group to sell power generated by its 447-mw  Patalganga 
power project directly to third parties if   the Maharashtra State 
Electricity Board (MSEB)  does not lift power. The project,s power purchase 
agreement (PPA) has a clause to this effect.  The state government,s 
permission to Reliance to  hawk power to third parties has to be seen in the 
context of its dithering on forwarding to the Centre  the Dabhol Power 
Company,s bid for mega power  status so that it could sell power to third 
parties. 

 DPC sources told Business Standard several weeks ago that the company,s 
application had been pending with the Chief Minister,s office for months. 
Only now has the state government authorised the Godbole committee to 
negotiate with DPC on third  party sales outside the state. The DPC project 
is facing the threat of closure  following MSEB,s inability to buy power from 
it,  thanks to the Board,s weak financial position.  Not only can the 
Reliance group sell power to third parties within Maharashtra, but it can 
sell power to utilities outside the state. The PPA does not  expressly bar it 
from doing so. Nor does it specify the category of customers to whom power 
can be sold. So, in effect, this suggests that the group could sell power to  
industrial and commercial customers in  Maharashtra and emerge as a rival to 
the MSEB.The state electricity board derives over 80 per cent  of its revenue 
from such consumers. 

 Apart from captive power plants, independent power producers in India are 
allowed to sell power only to  state electricity boards. They can sell power  
outside the state only if they qualify for mega power project status.  With 
its 447-mw capacity, the Patalganga project is not eligible for such status 
because mega power  rojects are supposed to have a minimum capacity  of 1,000 
mw. Speaking on the sidelines of a press conference  last week, Reliance 
Industries managing director  Anil Ambani told Business Standard: A provision 
in third parties. Ambani was answering a question on whether the MSEB,s weak 
financials and inability to offer escrow cover to the project as emphasised 
in the Godbole committee report set up to defuse the Dabhol crisis would 
derail the Patalganga project. 

The PPA does not have any express restriction as to third party sale outside 
the state, a Reliance spokesperson confirmed on Friday in a faxed  response 
to questions.  A senior MSEB official explained that the state government 
cleared private power projects some years ago on the basis of the 
unrealistically high demand projections contained in a report by a former 
MSEB official.  Subsequently, it was realised that the state would be stuck 
with excess power. So the Reliance group was permitted to sell power to third 
parties, he said. The Patalganga project along with the Ispat group,s 1,082 
mw Bhadravati project has been put on hold till the Godbole committee submits 
its second 
report.
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THE ECONOMIC TIMES, MAY 7, 2001
No need of Patalganga, Bhadravati power: MSEB 

THE AXE seems to have finally fallen on the much-delayed Reliance 
Industries-promoted Patalganga and Ispat Industries' Bhadravati Power 
projects in Maharashtra as  the state electricity board has firmly told the 
government  that "there is no need of these projects nor their power". The 
loss-making board has communicated to the government that MSEB had "no 
interest" in Patalganga and Bhadravati, as it did not have escrow-able 
capacity and also that industrial demand for power had slowed down   
tremendously in Maharashtra, state government sources  said here on Sunday. 
"In last November itself, MSEB had sent an official intimation to the state 
government informing its decision in  favour of cancellation of the two 
projects on several grounds -- including they being unviable and 
unaffordable," sources said. "Reliance's project is no different from that of 
DPC's. Patalganga is also naphtha-based and its PPA is on similar lines... 

After the Enron experience, MSEB cannot  even dream of another gas-based 
power plant in the state," a senior MSEB official said. He said MSEB has 
already asked the state government  not to provide escrow to both the 447-mw 
Patalganga and  the 1,084-mw coal-based Bhadravati, "as the US energy major 
has almost squeezed us of all over finances". When contacted, MSEB chairman 
Vinay Bansal said: "Reliance and Ispat projects have been put on hold as per  
the Godbole Committee's recommendations", but  expressed inability to give 
further details. 

Currently, Bhadravati and Patalganga projects have been  put on hold as per 
Godbole Committee report, which was set up to review the DPC-MSEB PPA and 
energy scenario in Maharashtra. "Can you go ahead with the project without an 
escrow cover?" the committee was believed to have asked Ispat  and Reliance 
representatives, to which the reply had been  negative, sources added. 
Sources said, as of now, both the projects have not been able to achieve 
financial closure as leading financial   institutions were not willing to 
fund the projects which do  not have a "guaranteed payment" mechanism from 
MSEB, which, incidentally it has promised to DPC. "All the three were cleared 
as 'fast-track' projects, but other than Enron, Reliance and Ispat have been 
caught in a quagmire, especially Bhadravati, which has been hanging afire 
since last nine years," they added. 

Moreover, the MSEB official opined that given the current situation, if DPC 
calls it quits from India, Bhadravati was a safer bet than Reliance's 
Patalganga. Patalganga's power would be mere 50 paise less than that of DPC's 
that ranges anywhere around approximately Rs  4.50 per unit to as high as Rs 
7, while Bhadravati's cost could be around Rs 3.80 to Rs 4 per unit, he 
informed. MSEB's installed capacity ended on March 31, 2001, was14,000 mw and 
it has generated 45,000 million units with transmission and distribution 
losses as high as 39 per cent. (PTI)
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BUSINESS STANDARD, MAY 7, 2001
Global bankers ask govt to honour DPC  obligations 

Tamal Bandyopadhyay, Surajeet Dasgupta& Santosh Tiwary in Mumbai/NewDelhi 
Global arrangers for the Dabhol Power Company have mounted fresh pressure on 
the  finance ministry to honour the Union  government,s counter-guarantee and 
have also  set strict conditions for reconsidering the termination of the 
power purchase agreement (PPA) between the DPC and the Maharashtra State 
Electricity Board (MSEB). In a related development, the DPC has sent a  note 
to all lenders saying they would have to bear   the consequences of the turn 
of events as they  have prevented the DPC from serving the PPA  termination 
notice last month. 

The lenders. in their turn, sent a statement --  prepared by the New 
York-based legal firm  White & Case -- defending their stance saying they are 
working in the best interest of the  project. The lenders are expected to 
meet in London over the next fortnight to take stock of the situation.The 
deadline for resolving the issues are drawing to a close as 10 days of the 
three-week reprieve  have passed. At the DPC board meeting in London on May 
25, the lenders had managed to stall the issuance    of the termination 
notice and got three weeks, time for themselves to convince the Centre as  
well as the Maharashtra government to resolve  the impasse on the 
controversial project. In a letter to finance secretary Ajit Kumar dated 
April 30, the global arrangers said the  government must own up its 
responsibility and  meet its obligations without further delay. Among the 
stiff conditions, set by the arrangers, are the demand that the central 
government  ensure payment of all the pending bills of MSEB  for December 
2000, January 2001, February  2001 and March 2001 which remain unpaid  
without any protest or reservation by May 7  (Monday). 

Any payment previously made under &protest8 should be made free and clear of 
such protest or  any other reservation, and the Center should   ensure timely 
payment of future bills by MSEB,  they said. Meanwhile, sources said that the 
finance secretary was expected to meet the international lenders to the 
Dabhol projects in London stand on the issue. The lenders, list of demands 
also include asking  MSEB to take steps required under the existing  
contracts to activate the escrow arrangements  put in place at the time of 
financial close of Phase II of the Project by May 7. 

They have demanded that the Union government and the Maharashtra government 
should take all required actions to ensure that no government agency will 
take any step to impede the operation   of Phase I or the construction and 
operation of  Phase II without due cause. The lenders have also asked them to 
ensure that the relevant customs authorities permit import of all goods and 
equipment required for the Project  by May 21. CSFB, ANZ Export Finance, 
Citi, Bank Of America and ABN Amro are the global arrangers for both phase I 
as well as phase II of  the project. 

The State Bank of India, which is also a global arranger for phase II, did 
not sign the letter. "Ten days have passed since the lenders bought three 
weeks time from the company delaying its declaration of the termination of 
the PPA. Since then, nothing has moved at the material level barring MSEB's 
payment of the January bill to the tune of Rs 134 crore under protest," said 
a  source among the global arrangers. come forward to meet its obligations 
The lenders  are planning to meet around mid-May in London  and this time 
they will be left with no choice but to give the go-ahead to the company to 
terminate the PPA unless the finance ministry comes forward to settle the 
issue, the source added. The lenders are, however, not ready to take the  
blame for any delay in the termination of PPA as implied by the company. The 
White & Case statement said the lenders are  concerned about the fate of the 
project and they  are exploring all intermediate steps before  choosing the 
last option -- termination of PPA. 
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BUSINESS STANDARD, Saturday, 5 May, 2001
GE may pull out as DPC supplier , S Ravindran in Mumbai

After US-based Bechtel, it is now the turn of General Electric to review its 
participation as equipment supplier to the controversial 2,184-mw power 
project in Maharashtra, being set up by the Dabhol Power Company.Bechtel is 
the EPC contractor to the project while GE has supplied the equipment, 
primarily turbines.General Electric, like Bechtel, also holds 10 per cent in 
Dabhol Power Company (DPC). And both Bechtel and General Electric are worried 
about future payments from DPC. Sources familiar with the project said that 
so far DPC has not defaulted in its payments to General Electric. What is 
worrying General Electric is the possible scenario after June 7, when about 
700 mw power will be commissioned after the second phase  trial runs.

DPC and the Maharashtra State Electricity Board  (MSEB) have been locked in a 
payments dispute for months. If MSEB continues with its stance, DPC in turn 
may not be able to pay General Electric. In such a situation, GE may walk out 
of the project. A final decision will be taken only in June, said sources. 
General Electric did not respond to a faxed questionnaire sent by Business 
Standard. Senior executives at its public relations agency Burson   
Marsteller Roger Pereira said that only DPC executives were authorised to 
speak on the issue. The DPC spokesman declined to comment on the issue.

The first phase of the 740 mw has already been commissioned. After the second 
phase of 1,444 mwis commissioned by December, 2001, MSEB will  have to pay 
DPC a minimum of Rs 500 crore per month. The escrow account for this was to 
have been made operational by April 7, 2001. MSEB has refused to do this. 
Earlier, DPC had invoked the political force majeure clause in its contract 
with the board. MSEB is now arguing that the invocation of this clause has 
absolved DPC of all its liabilities. 

Consequently, it will not operationalise the escrow account. This casts a 
further shadow over DPC,s ability to pay General Electric and Bechtel. This 
is worrying the lenders to the project as well. The situation has taken a 
turn for the worse with DPC practically refusing to re-negotiate the contract 
for the second phase with the Godbole panel constituted by the Maharashtra 
government. 
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HINDU BUSINESSLINE, May 5, 2001
Agenda for fresh talks with Enron chalked out 

OFFICIALS of the State Government, Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) 
and members of the Madhav Godbole committee, which recently submitted its 
review on the Dabhol Power project, met here on Saturday. The meeting was to 
``chart the agenda for renegotiation with Enron officials,'' a senior MSEB 
official said. Enron officials were scheduled to attend this meeting but 
backed out on May 3. Enron had informed the State Government that it would 
not accept the                      recommendations of the Godbole committee. 
`It is understandable that the company does not find the recommendations 
acceptable. But the report is not bound to personal opinions,'' the official 
said. The next meeting to decide the direction of renegotiation process with 
Enron is  scheduled on May 11.
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THE ECONOMIC TIMES, May 6, 2001
Godbole panel meets sans Dabhol representation 

THE GODBOLE Committee, set up for renegotiating the estranged power purchase 
agreement between US energy major Enron-promoted Dabhol Power Company and the 
state electricity board on Saturday held its first internal meeting sans 
representatives of the multinational. "It was an internal meeting to take 
stock of the current situation and decide on matter pertaining to the May 11 
meet with officials of Enron, GE, Bechtel and DPC's foreign lenders," said 
state government sources. The meeting, which lasted for almost four hours, 
discussed a strategy to present the committee's recommendations made public 
last month, they said. 

Of the nine members of the committee, Saturday's meeting was attended by five 
members -- including Godbole, MSEB chairman Vinay Bansal, state energy 
secretary V M Lal, state finance secretary Sudhir Shrivastava and Kirit 
Parekh of Indira Gandhi Institute of Developmental Research. Those absent 
were HDFC chairman Deepak Parekh, Teri director R K Pachauri, former union 
energy secretary EAS Sarma and yet-to-be-appointed representatives of the 
Centre and Central Electricity Authority. The negotiating committee would 
suggest solutions to bring down the exorbitant power tariff, separating of 
the liquefied natural gas facility, restructuring of DPC and allowing sale of 
excess power through central utilities mainly the National Thermal Power 
Corporation, said sources. (PTI
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THE ECONOMIC TIMES, May 5, 2001
NTPC not to buy power from Enron: Govt

THE CENTRE has ruled out the possibility of National Thermal Power 
Corporation buying power generated by US energy giant Enron-promoted Dabhol 
Power Company. Union power minister Suresh Prabhu is learnt to have stated 
this during the meeting with Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh 
last month, convened by the finance minister Yashwant Sinha to discuss the 
Enron crisis, said government sources on Friday. 

Prabhu had pointed out that "there is no question of NTPC buying power from 
the project since long-term power purchase agreements have been signed by 
NTPC with the buying states". Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh 
during the meeting suggested that the central power utility sell the excess 
power over and above the 300-400 mw needed for the state from the 740 mw 
phase-I and soon-to-be-commissioned phase-II of 1,444-mw, to other needy 
states. When contacted, Prabhu said the entire controversy over payment 
default by Maharashtra State Electricity Board owing to high cost of power 
generated by DPC had to be resolved between the state government, and DPC and 
Centre had very limited role to play. DPC has already slapped one 
conciliation notice on the Centre and three arbitration notices on the state 
government over non-payment of dues amounting to Rs 213-crore-plus interest 
rate towards bills due for the months of December 2000 and January 2001. (PTI)
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THE TIMES OF INDIA, May 7, 2001
MSEB recovers Rs 3.06 cr arrears in one day 

In a special day-long drive, Nagpur rural zone of Maharashtra State 
Electricity Board (MSEB) has recovered Rs 3.06 crore as arrears from the 
defaulters who had to pay a handsome dividend, and disconnected15,000 
connections of erring customers last week. According to MSEB sources, under 
the drive, initiated by chief engineer Manohar Bapat, with the assistance of 
about 5,000 employees including engineers, accounts staff and linesmen, a 
door-to-door campaign was launched to meet 25,000 customers, leading to the 
recovery of the dues. Power supply to 15,000 customers were disconnected on 
the spot due to non-payment of arrears in Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Wardha, 
Bhandara, Gondia and Nagpur districts, it said in a release. The drive met 
with stiff resistence from public and the police were called in at many 
places to assist the powermen, it added.