Mumbai: Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd, set up by Enron Corp in 1996 as Dabhol Power Corporation, has lifted output capacity to a record 1260 MW after commissioning its second unit.

Two units of the gas-fired power plant are now capable of generating 1260 MW and are expected to reach full capacity by 15 November, RGPPL chairman R K Goel said.

Goel, who is also director (finance) of state-run gas utility GAIL India Ltd, said the third unit is expected to start generating electricity by mid-February.

The plant, with a planned capacity of 2,150 MW, would provide electricity to power-starved Maharashtra, which faces a shortage of as much as 4,000-5,000 MW, state energy minister Dileep Walse-Patil said.

"We commissioned block III of 740 MW on Saturday and produced over 1,200 MW," Goel said.

The firm commissioned another unit of a similar capacity -- block II -- in May last year, and the two are running at a plant load factor of 82-83 per cent, Goel said.

He said the plant was expected to be fully on stream by the end of January, with the re-commissioning of block I with 670 MW capacity.

Full commissioning of RGPPL, the country''s biggest gas-fired power plant, is expected by end-January, by when the plant would need 8 million cubic metres of gas per day.

The plant, which initially used costly naphtha, currently runs on gas supplied by Petronet LNG Ltd.

Ratnagiri Gas and Power Pvt Ltd was set up in July 2005 to revive Dabhol Power Corporation, which had been lying idle for over four years after the state stopped drawing power due to payment disputes.

GAIL and the NTPC own 28.33 per cent each in RPPGL, while state-utility MSEB Holding Co Ltd has a 15 per cent stake. Financial institutions own the rest.

The government has mandated LNG importer Petronet to meet the plant''s gas requirements until September 2009, after which GAIL will take over.