State-run gas firm Gas Authority of India Ltd has joined hands with Tata Power Co Ltd and British Petroleum to bid as a group for bankrupt US energy firm Enron Corp's Dabhol power plant and LNG import terminal in Maharashtra.

"We will sign a tripartite collaborative agreement before the end of this month," a senior GAIL official said in New Delhi.

• The Enron Saga

Though the three companies are yet to decide on how much each one will hold in the consortium bidding for Enron's Indian assets, they have broadly reached an understanding that GAIL, if they win the bid, would operate the 2.5 million tonne LNG import and regassification facility at Dabhol, while Tata Power would run the 2,184 MW power plant.

BP is interested in supplying liquefied natural gas, they said.

Foreign shareholders had offered to sell the stalled $2.9 billion project for which there are four prospective buyers -- the consortium of Tata Power, BP and GAIL; Reliance Industries Ltd; BG Group Plc; and Royal Dutch/Shell.

Enron owns 65 per cent of Dabhol, while General Electric Co and privately held Bechtel Group Inc each own 10 per cent.

The state-run Maharashtra State Electricity Board -- the sole buyer of the power generated by the project -- holds the remaining 15 per cent of Dabhol Power Company, which set up the 2,184 MW plant.