Bangladesh is crying foul, wants to renegotiate the 2017 energy deal with Adani

Bangladesh’s small government says it hopes to renegotiate a 2017 multibillion-dollar deal with Adani to supply power from its coal-fired plant in eastern India. The deal was awarded by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina without any mercy, costing Bangladesh more than its other coal industries. The caretaker government has accused Adani Power of violating the agreement by withholding the tariff that the central power company received from New Delhi.

According to a Reuters report, Dhaka owes several million dollars for electricity that has already been delivered. However, both parties dispute the size of the bill. The Minister of Energy in Bangladesh, Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, said that the country has enough domestic energy to do without the help of the enemy.

According to the report, Bangladesh plans to reopen the 25-year-old agreement and hopes to increase the problem of the US decision in a bribe of $ 265 million to force a decision. Adani Group denied the allegations and called them baseless.

A spokesperson for Adani Power said that all contractual obligations were followed by them and they had no indication that Bangladesh was reviewing the contract.

Delhi announced that Adani Power’s coal-fired Godda plant was built to serve Bangladesh as a special economic unit. Under this, it enjoyed incentives such as exemption from income tax etc.

The power was required to inform Bangladesh about the changes in the company’s tax rate and give the opportunity to pay the tax to the Indian government, according to the agreement signed between Adani Power and the Government of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) in 2017. However, the company did not do so, according to the BPDB letter. , encouraging it to provide value.

BPDB officials told the news agency that they have yet to receive a response from the company. Bangladesh expects to save about $28.6 million.

Meanwhile, on October 31, Adani Power reduced the power output from its Godda plant by half, citing a payment dispute with Bangladesh over the calculation of electricity prices. According to Reuers, Adani Power rejected BPDB’s request to extend the discount until May. This discount resulted in Bangladesh saving about $13 million. Adani Power said it would not consider further discounts until the payment issue is resolved.

Adani Power says it owes $900 million, while the BPDB estimates the arrears are about $650 million.

The power shortage has hit Bangladesh hard. The BPDB chairman, Md Rezaul Karim, was angered when he pursued Dhaka’s remittance of $97 million to Adani Power in October, which is its monthly payment this year.