SOURCE: AFP
India’s Adani Group has been repeatedly requesting the interim government to immediately clear dues of around $800 million on their electricity sales, according to officials of Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB).
Multiple officials confirmed that the group recently asked the PDB, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Bangladesh Bank and the interim government’s chief adviser several times to clear the outstanding bill. Adani Power supplies electricity from its coal-based plant in Godda, Jharkhand, to Bangladesh under a 25-year power purchase agreement with the Bangladesh Power Development Board, or PDB. The plant has a capacity of 1,600MW.
The two parties signed the contract on Nov 5, 2017. Although the agreement allows for up to 1496MW of electricity, Bangladesh currently receives 700 to 800MW daily, resulting in a monthly bill ranging from $90 to $100 million.
As per the agreement, Sonali Bank is responsible for sending dollars to Adani Group. Sonali Bank settles these payments using dollars from the reserves of the Bangladesh Bank.
As of June 30, Adani Power’s net debt decreased to Rs 25,653 crore from Rs 26,545 crore on March 31. The finance cost for the quarter ended June 30 fell to Rs 811 crore from Rs 883 crore in the previous year. Adani Power saw its net profit fall 55.33 percent or by Rs 4,846.63 crore to Rs 3,912.79 crore in Q1 2024-25, compared to Rs 8,759.42 crore in Q1 2023-24. The company’s revenue, on the other hand, rose by 35.89 percent or by Rs 3,950.09 crore to Rs 14,955.63 crore, from Rs 11,005.54 crore during the same quarter of the previous year.
The interim government is seeking an additional $3 billion from the International Monetary Fund, or IMF, to address the crisis.
Bloomberg reported on August 23 that Bangladesh’s foreign exchange buffer is eroding, with gross reserves of $20.5 billion as of July 31, which is enough to cover about three months of imports. The interim government is trying to secure more loans from the International Monetary Fund, beyond a $4.7-billion programme, to tide over these economic hardships, the report said.