Receivers have taken control of bankrupt US energy giant Enron's most valuable asset in Asia, the Dabhol power plant in India.

The officials took over the $2.9bn (�2bn) installation on India's west coast to ensure the idle asset was maintained properly after it started to rust.

The Bombay High Court granted a request by Indian creditors last month for receivers to be appointed and bar Dabhol from becoming part of Enron's bankruptcy proceedings in the US.

A Mauritius-registered holding company, through which Enron owns a 65% stake in Dabhol, filed for bankruptcy protection in a New York court last month.

Domestic and overseas lenders to what was India's largest foreign direct investment, will meet in Bombay next week to try and sell the plant.

Enron 'obstructs' sale

Dabhol, one of the world's largest liquefied natural gas power plants, is one of Enron's few remaining major assets still up for grabs, but the company has reportedly refused to sign a cooperation agreement to enable the sale.

"Enron wanted $550m from the sale of the project to go to them and not the Indian lenders," Dave Chatterjee of the Financial Express in Bombay told the BBC's World Business Report.

Lead financier Industrial Development Bank of India and other Indian financial institutions, who provided the bulk of the $1.9bn in loans outstanding to the Dabhol Power, are keen to sell the 85% of foreign owned equity in the project.

General Electric and privately held Bechtel each own 10% percent stakes in Dabhol, while the Maharashtra State Electricity Board holds the remaining 15% .

The potential bidders include Shell, the French utility Gaz de France, and Indian companies Reliance Industries, BSES, Tata Power and Gas Authority of India.