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U.S. power giant Enron Corp. said Wednesday it maypursue damages if forced to scrap its Dabhol PowerCo. subsidiary."That's one of the options available to us," Enronspokesman John Ambler told CNN. But he added thatthe company is not pursuing termination damagesyet.Media reports suggest Enron will seek to claim $3.5billion to $5 billion.Talks to renegotiate Enron's deal with Maharashtrastate were cancelled Wednesday. The chief of thegovernment-backed committee, which has yieldedabsolutely no fruit, resigned.

Enron to attend talksHouston-based Enron owns a 65 percent stake in the$3 billion Dabhol power-plant development. But thenine-year old project has run aground.Its partner Maharashtra claims that the power is too

expensive and that it cannot absorb it all. TheMaharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB), whichowns a 15 percent stake in Dabhol, owes Enron $45million in unpaid bills.On Saturday, Dabhol issued a preliminarytermination notice, the first step in pulling out of itsdeal to supply MSEB. Enron executives have alsobeen leaving India.

Ambler would not elaborate on what steps Enronwould take if it is forced to pull out of Dabhol, citingthe ongoing legal back-and-forth. The companywould likely also claim a $300 million terminationfee.The MSEB is considering issuing Dabhol with a

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termination notice of its own, according to theEconomic Times of India. It was to make thatdecision after a meeting later Wednesday, thenewspaper stated.But a committee set up by Maharashtra state torenegotiate its power-purchase agreement withDabhol collapsed. Panel chief Madhav Godboleresigned amid political bickering.Enron India representatives were slated to attendthe talks. Maharashtra had given the panel a monthto explore a new deal, which it says is key toDabhol's future.The temporary collapse of negotiations is a majorsetback.But Enron had in any case said it is taking part onlyas a matter of courtesy. The company does not seegrounds to revisit the power-purchase agreement."There are some needs first for people to live up totheir contractual obligations," Ambler said. He said

the company was attending for informationalpurposes, not to negotiate.

Karnataka state revisits power dealsIn issuing the termination notice, Dabhol found faultwith the Indian government as well as Maharashtrastate for hampering the project. It noted that theIndian government did not even bother attending the

first round of Dabhol talks.Critics portray Enron as a profiteering multinationalcharging too much for the power.Maharashtra state includes Mumbai, India's businesscapital. On Tuesday, the southern state of Karnatakasaid it had been emboldened by the fracas to reopen

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power-supply deals it had finalized with 11 privatecompanies."Enron is a lesson for all of us," V.P. Baligar,chairman of the state power company told Reuters.Observers worry that Enron's problems, coming

after companies such as Cogentrix pulled out ofdeals in India, will scare away overseasinvestors.India is one of Asia's fastest-growing economies, butfaces a desperate need for electricity generation inthe next decade. Companies looking to set upoperations in India are often put off by the vastamount of red tape involved.