The Adani Group has warned Bangladesh that its 500 million USD dues from the Godda power plant are unsustainable. It has also been mentioned that the global conglomerate will be forced to cut down on the power supply to Bangladesh if the debts are not paid soon enough. Even with the recent developments being made in the country, Bangladesh continues to face severe power shortages. The power situation has worsened because of the dwindling domestic gas reserves. Yonus’s government has mentioned that the Bangladesh interim government has already approached its lenders including the World Bank for billions of dollars in loans to stabilize the country’s finances during this economic turmoil. The government has also criticised several expensive infrastructure deals that were made under Hasina’s government.
The Warning To The Interim Government of Bangladesh:
The Adani Group, one of the biggest global conglomerates, has already sent its warnings to Bangladesh’s new interim government to pay for its 500 million worth of backlogs due for the supply of electricity from the Adani Godda power plant. Adani Power mentioned that the company has been in constant communication with the Bangladesh government. It has also talked to the government about the unsustainable situation that they are in not just in terms of power supply commitment but also to the lenders and suppliers.
In spite of rising receivables and the mounting dues, the Adani Group said that it would continue to supply interrupted electric power from the Adani Godda facility to Bangladesh and that too at a competitive price. The new interim government which is led by the Nobel Laureate, Muhammad Yunus, is currently facing constant challenges while trying to revive the economy of the country after the former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was removed from her post.
Adani’s Commitment To Supply Power To Bangladesh:
In July 2023, Gautam Adani called on Hasina following the full load commencement of power supply to Bangladesh from the 1,600 MW ultra super-critical thermal power plant at Godda in Jharkhand. The power plant has been supplying power to Bangladesh since April 2022. This is the only transnational project to have been taken up by the Adani Group. The Godda power plant is also the only power plant in India to export its entire power output to a neighbouring country. The deal was agreed upon during our Prime Minister’s visit to Dhaka in 2015.
The activists have repeatedly criticised the projects. However, even amidst the ongoing controversies, the Adani Group has continued to supply Bangladesh. This stabilised Bangladesh’s power situation to a significant extent. Industrial activities also started to be carried out in full force. The people were also able to enjoy an interrupted power supply.
The power plant exported at least 7,508 million units of power. This involves 63% of the total exports during the April to March of FY 23- 24.
The Plans For The Future:
In August 2024, just a week before Sheikh Hasina fled Bangladesh, the Ministry of Power amended its rules and allowed the plants exporting exclusively to neighbouring countries to sell the power within India. As per the reports, Bangladesh faced total power liabilities of 3.7 billion USD. According to the same report, Yunus’s top energy adviser, Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan stated that the country owes around 800 million USD to Adani.
He said that the interim government has already been in talks with lenders including global banks to help stabilise the country’s finances. Yunus took charge of Bangladesh as chief advisor of the interim government in August following a student-led protest that started over reservations about government jobs and forced Sheikh Hasina to flee from the country. Khan has stated that his administrative plans involve introducing competitive bidding and empowering the regulators. The plans also involve establishing an expert committee to re-examine energy deals that were negotiated under the previous government.
Conclusion:
In this way, even amidst the ongoing controversies and challenges, the Adani Group has continued to supply power from the Adani Godda power plant. However, because of the increasing dues, it has become a challenge for the global conglomerate to continue supplying power to the neighbouring country. In the upcoming months, we expect the financial situation in Bangladesh to stabilise so that the Adani Group can live up to its commitment and continue to supply electricity in an uninterrupted way to the people of Bangladesh.
