Bangladesh has asked Adani Power, owned by Indian billionaire Gautam Adani, to fully resume supplying electricity from its 1,600 MW power plant. A Bangladeshi official informed Reuters of this decision.
According to the news agency, Bangladesh has asked Adani Power to fully restore supply from its 1,600 MW plant in India. This request comes more than three months after supply and sales had decreased due to lower demand in winter and disputes over payments.
In 2017, under former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Bangladesh signed a 25-year agreement with Adani. The company, based in India’s Jharkhand state, supplies electricity from its $2 billion plant. The plant consists of two 800 MW units, both of which sell electricity exclusively to Bangladesh.
Reuters reports that due to payment delays, the Indian company reduced its supply to Bangladesh by half on October 31 last year. As a result, one of its units shut down on November 1, reducing the plant’s operation to approximately 42% capacity. Later, Bangladesh had asked Adani to continue supplying only half of the electricity.
The state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has stated that it is paying Adani $85 million per month to clear outstanding dues and has now asked the company to resume supply from the second unit.
BPDB Chairman Md. Rezaul Karim told Reuters, “As per our requirement, they had planned to synchronize the second unit, but due to high vibration, it did not happen. Because of some technical issues, the unit could not be restarted from Monday.”
He further stated, “At the moment, we are making payments of $85 million per month. We are trying to pay more, and our goal is to reduce overdue amounts. Currently, there are no major issues with Adani.”
A source, speaking on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, mentioned that after a recent meeting, a virtual discussion between BPDB and Adani officials was scheduled for Tuesday.
A spokesperson for Adani Power declined to make any immediate comment. Last December, a source from Adani stated that BPDB owed the company $900 million, while Rezaul Karim claimed the amount was closer to $650 million.
The core dispute between Bangladesh and Adani Power revolves around the 2017 agreement. According to this deal, the price of electricity is determined based on the average of two indices. A previous Reuters report mentioned that the electricity price from Adani Power was 55% higher compared to power supplied from other plants in India.