Bangladesh to Lose Power Supply from India Owing to Pending Dues

Gautam Adani-led Adani Power may stop supplying power to Bangladesh if that country does not settle its dues by November 7, said people aware of the development.

Unpaid bills totalling around $850 million (Rs 7,200 crore) have forced Adani Power Jharkhand Ltd, a subsidiary of Adani Power, to already cut its power supply to Bangladesh by half.

Adani Power had last month written to the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), asking it to clear the dues by October 31, the people said. The BPDB, in turn, provided a letter of credit (LC) of $170 million (Rs 1,500 crore) to ensure payment security, they said.

"The LC received was not in line with the power purchase agreement. Adani may be forced to shut the power supply around November 10," said a person aware of the development. Adani Power's Godda power plant in Jharkhand shut down one of its units last week to reduce power supply, the person said. The 1,496 MW plant operates at 700 MW from a single unit.

Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani had this September written to Muhammad Yunus, the chief adviser to the Bangladesh government, seeking his intervention in the early liquidation of $800 million of receivables to the power producer.

Adani's letter stated that the company had invested $2 billion in building the plant and associated transmission infrastructure and delivered it in a record time of 3.5 years despite being impacted by three waves of Covid-19.