AES pullout won't affect privatisation: Prabhu

new delhi: union minister for power suresh prabhu on friday said the withdrawal of us firm aes from orissa will not hamper privatisation of the power sector being carried out in various states. speaking to times news network, prabhu said: "aes has decided to pull out from only the distribution of power in the state. they are not leaving india or any other project in the state." he also added that the central government is not planning to buy enron's stake in dabhol power project.aes has withdrawn its 51 per cent stake in orissa's central electricity supply company. cesco is one of the four privatised distribution companies in the state. other three are wesco, nesco and southco. officials of aes, including nominated cesco md roberto podesta, are reported to have left bhubaneswar. aes corporation's investment in india includes $10 million in cesco and rs 603 crore for its 49 per cent stake in orissa power generation company. the company has expressed its desire to sell its stake in the distribution company to the government or any other third party. aes official said the tariff was not sufficient to meet the electricity cost. reports say law and order problem and lack of government support to cut off power supply to non-paying customers have also been cited as reasons for the withdrawal. however, the company is not willing to leave other power projects in the state which includes opgc. in may, aes closed down operations at a thermal power station in banharpali in jharsuguda district, 395 km from bhubaneswar, for a week demanding the clearance of outstanding dues of rs 1,400 crore from the state's grid corporation. aes is the third us company to have withdrawn from power sector in india. cogentrix was the first one to pull out from the projects in karnataka. last week, enron had offered to divest its 65 per cent stake in the controversial dabhol power project in maharashtra. in all the three cases, high tariff rates of electricity being sold by these companies and subsequent non-compliance with agreement terms have been the main reason for the withdrawals. the escrow accounts have also added to the dispute. interestingly, orissa was one of the first states to have opened its power generation and distribution system to private companies. after privatisation, reports indicate that there has been considerable improvement in distribution of power in the state and reduction in theft.