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Vol.
XXV No. 22
June 03,2001 |
People’s Democracy
Enrons
Pawar Game
Prabir Purkayastha
THE two states,
Maharashtra in India and California in the US, have many things in common. Both are the
most economically advanced states in their countries; both are passing through a serious
power crisis; in both these states, Enron is very much a part of the crisis. And in both
the US and India, Enron has friends in high places to see that it continues to make huge
profits even if both these states sink.
Enron is
currently in focus in the United States as the architect of the Bush energy policy, which
favours the oil industry. Enron is also in focus here with Sharad Pawar signalling that
any criticism of the Enron deal as being “too negative”. More ominous, there are
now reports in the papers that he is sounding his party, the NCP, to shift to the BJP.
This will ensure that both the Maharashtra government and the central government will be
controlled by the Friends of Enron Society; it was Sharad Pawars government in
Maharashtra which sanctioned the first phase of 748 MW followed by the even more ruinous
second phase of 1444 MW sanctioned by the BJP-Shiv Sena government. Enron has friends in
high places, whether in the US or in India. And unless the people are vigilant, it is
Enron that will dictate the energy policies of both countries.
ENRON DISPUTE
CRITICAL PHASE
The Enron
dispute is now entering a critical phase. The Godbole Committee report made clear that
there is no way that the finances of Maharashtra will survive the Enron project. It is
also clear that there are no takers for Enron power, either in or outside Maharashtra at
its current rates. While the losses due to the first stage alone is of the order of Rs
1,000 crore per year, the second stage would require Maharashtra State Electricity Board
(MSEB) to hand over more that 50 per cent of its total annual revenue of about Rs 10,000
crore to Enron. It is clear that MSEB and Maharashtra will have to get out of the Enron
contract, which is an albatross around its neck.
Unfortunately,
the Maharashtra government is willing to strike but afraid to wound Enron. The major
controversy MSEB has created is around the issue of the ramp-up rate of the Dabhol
project: it failed to ramp-up to full load when called upon to do so within the stipulated
time period specified in the contract. On this basis, it has issued notice for voiding the
Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) with Enron. Earlier, Enron had given notice to MSEB for
cancelling the PPA as a prelude to claiming damages from MSEB. Both sides are negotiating
now under cancellation threats.
PROBLEM WITH
MSEBs STAND
The major
problem with MSEBs stand is that it has left out of its armoury the most potent
argument for cancellation of the Dabhol contract, that it was signed under conditions that
prima facie show corrupt practice. Unless they are willing to take this position as a
prelude to repudiation of the contract, they are leaving themselves open to the acceptance
of the basic terms of the contract and an arbitration procedure laid down in the
agreement. In such a scenario, the legal challenge is considerably weaker than questioning
the way the contract was struck. In fact, the Maharashtra government should have
instituted an enquiry in the way the agreement was signed taking into account all the acts
of omission and commission now listed in the Godbole Committee report. This should have
been followed by cancellation, if after the enquiry it was found there was a prima facie
case of corruption. The Godbole Committee has provided enough ammunition for such an
enquiry and it is difficult to believe that the enquiry would come to any other conclusion
than that it was a corrupt deal. Allowing negotiations at this stage is a sign of
weakness. The clear issue in Dabhol is that it is not possible to tinker with the
existing Power Purchase Agreement.
It is here that
the Sharad Pawar and other Friends of Enron have come into play. Both the central
government and the NCP are unwilling to question how the contract was signed and the
various behind the scene “deals” that must have been struck as part of
Enrons “education” drive. For such a wholesale violation of norms and
“mistakes” that all favoured Enron as detailed by the Godbole Committee, it is
obvious that those running the government then were closely involved. Apart from the
two governments in Maharashtra Sharad Pawars and Joshi-Mundes, there
was also the 14-day government of Atal Behari Vajpayee that gave the counter-guarantee to
Enron. Thus, both at the centre and at the state, the Friends of Enron are unwilling to
take on Enron: they have too many skeletons in their cupboard.
If Enron is
confronted with cancellation based on corrupt practice, conceivably, the skeletons in
Pawars and BJPs cupboard will come tumbling out. The Congress, which has also
been complicit in the Enron deal, will not escape unscathed. It was only due to the
imminent bankruptcy of MSEB and the Maharashtra government, along with pressure from the
left and democratic forces in Maharashtra that the Godbole Committee was set up. We now
have an operational scuttle that threatens cancellation but refuses to take up the
strongest argument for such a step. And the Congress is willing to go along with BJP, Shiv
Sena and Sharad Pawar in this operation.
The first
indication regarding Sharad Pawars intentions of saving Enron was when he criticised
Godbole regarding his role during negotiations with Enron. Apart from the unseemly
spectacle of leader of one of the major constituents of the government publicly
criticising its negotiating committee, it was also an attempt to weaken Maharashtra
governments position. Now, games are afoot to wreck the negotiations, with behind
the scenes pressure being brought on the Maharashtra government. Sharad Pawars
public statement was the first step. The next is the thinly veiled threat of NCP pulling
out and joining with the BJP. If the Congress does buckle under pressure for the fear of
losing its government in Maharashtra, the Congress would have performed the job of bailing
out Enron. All consequences of such a bailout will be left at the door of the Congress,
effectively immunising both Enron and BJP-NCP.
ENRONs
ILL-GOTTEN PROFITS
Enron is not
only a major player sinking Maharashtra state, it is being charged with a similar
scuttling of the California economy. The rise in gas and electricity prices in California
has, amongst other beneficiaries, also Enron. The Houston based company, has been charged
as a part of the Confederate loot of California. In the Civil War, Texas was on the side
of the slave owning Southern states (the Confederates) while California sided with the
North. Californians allege that the Texas energy companies have taken out a whopping 20
billion dollars in ill-gotten profits out of California as a result of its power crisis.
There also, it is its political clout that ensures the continued fleecing of California
subscribers.
It is this
multi-national-political nexus that makes nonsense of the theory that private capital and
de-regulation favours competition and lowers prices. Whether in India, as in the Dabhol
contract or in the failed California experiment with de-regulation, finally it is the
consumers that bear the burden of such failures. The consumers in this country opposed
the Dabhol contract. They were never told of the terms of the agreement and even today do
not know the full details of Dabhol or other PPAs entered on their behalf. Recently,
Prayas, energy NGO, has asked for such documents from MSEB. Even though MERC, the
Maharashtra power regulator has given directions to MSEB, the documents still are not
forthcoming. However, when the bill has to be paid, whether in Maharashtra or in
California, it is the consumers, particularly the smaller ones that bear the burden. This
is the true nature of private capital and so-called competition in the power sector.
We have already
indicated in our earlier columns that Dabhol requires hard decisions. Trying to work with
Enron to find a solution will not work, as we are not talking of cosmetic changes in the
contract. What we need is a wholesale restructuring of the contract. This means that the
Maharashtra government will have to argue from a position of strength. Unfortunately, the
flaw that is has picked in the contract, is unlikely to help them in such a wholesale
restructuring.
DESHMUKHs
LAST CHANCE
Vilasrao Desmukh
is in a lose-lose situation. If he negotiates on BJP-Shiv Sena and Sharad Pawars
terms, the contract will have changed marginally and will sink the Maharashtra economy. If
he gets tough with Enron, he might see NCP walk out of the government. What he has to
realise is that NCP can walk out anyway after getting the Vilasrao government to bailout
Enron. In such a scenario, he will be the one who will have put the final nail in
Maharashtras coffin and sink his party for good in Maharashtra. It is much better
then for both Vilasrao and the Congress to take Enron head on and fight for a just cause.
Vilasrao needs to start an enquiry on Enron and ask how CEA and the Finance Ministry
cleared this contract. He needs to bring within the scope of enquiry not only the state
government but also the central government. This will at least ensure that even if he
loses his government, he would have put the BJP-Shiv Sena on the mat. If Sharad Pawar is
also implicated, so be it. The Congress and he would live to fight another day. Otherwise,
he can start writing his and Congress obituary in Maharashtra.
The Dabhol
battle is entering a critical phase. Unless the people are vigilant, we might find a
re-enactment of the last times cancellation charade conducted by the BJP-Shiv Sena
government. This is Maharashtras chance of a survival. If they lose this one too, we
may as well write off Maharashtra from the economic map of the country. It will have
become a permanent basket case.
