Powerful lessons in international dispute management
The shutdown and (eventually successful) restructuring of the US$3 billion Dabhol power project was the largest and most complex series of disputes relating to foreign investment in India.
The Enron-built plant was shut down in 2001 after a payment dispute with its only customer, and minority owner, the Maharashtra State Electricity Board. After Enron collapsed, minority owners General Electric and Bechtel bought out the Texas energy company’s 65% stake in the inactive power plant and, in the end, sold their interests to a group of Indian lenders and the state-run utility.
Relatively simple when put in a single paragraph, the case required more than 40 different litigations over four years in five countries, not to mention several different international commercial arbitrations.
