Top officials of Bangladesh’s interim government said the operations of Indian businesses, including power supplier Adani Power, will be reviewed.
On Thursday (September 12), The Indian Express reported this news about a top official who did not want to be named.
Adani Power has been supplying power to Bangladesh under a 2017 agreement. According to the report, Bangladesh’s interim government is particularly keen to look into the terms of the deal and whether the price of electricity is reasonable.
A top official, who did not want to be named in this regard, said that the activities of Indian business organizations, especially the Adani Group, will be reviewed. What type of contract has been signed; What are its terms? Because no foreign company can disobey the laws of Bangladesh.
He also said that the main objective of this investigation is not to target Indian business establishments. Rather, how much money Bangladesh is actually giving to Adani Power, whether it is reasonable, the answers to those questions will be sought.
A few days ago, Adani Power asked Bangladesh to pay 800 million dollars for electricity arrears. An official of Bangladesh told the media that a decision was taken to review the agreement.
On the condition of anonymity, he said, “Other businesses in India like the Adani Group will be thoroughly investigated.” We need to make sure the contract is in accordance with local laws and regulations.’
Apart from Adani, Indian companies PTC India, NVVL Limited and Semcorp Energy India supply electricity to Bangladesh. Currently Indian companies charge an average of Rs 8.77 per unit of electricity. There, Adani Power charges Tk 14.02 per unit. Which is more unusual than others.
In a recent statement, Adani Group said, although they owe Bangladesh 800 million dollars; However, they will continue to supply electricity. However, they have called upon Bangladesh to pay the arrears so that there is no disruption in the supply in the future.
Adani has a 1,600 MW power plant at Godda in Jharkhand, India. Adani signed a 25-year contract with the Bangladesh Power Supply Board (BPDB) in 2017 during the tenure of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for power supply from this plant. The Indian company supplies 1 thousand 496 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh from this center. Which is 10 percent of Bangladesh’s total electricity demand. Adani built the power plant in Godda at a cost of $2 billion to sell electricity in Bangladesh alone.
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left the Prime Ministership and fled to India in the face of mass revolution on August 5. After that, relations between the two countries deteriorated. Bangladesh government has also indicated to bring back Hasina who is in India.
