Adani To Stop Power Supply Unless Dues Paid Within 4 Days
The Indian power company Adani Group has warned to stop the electricity supply to Bangladesh if the electricity dues of $850 million are not paid by November 7.
On Sunday (November 3), the Indian media Times of India reported this information.
It is said that Adani Power has informed Bangladesh that the electricity supply will be completely stopped by November 7 if the dues of $850 million are not paid.
The report also said that after missing an earlier deadline on October 31, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) attempted to secure a $170 million letter of credit through Krishi Bank, but it did not meet the terms stipulated in their power purchase agreement.
Earlier, Adani Power Jharkhand had reduced its power supply to Bangladesh since October 31 due to a delay in payment of dues.
Bangladesh has struggled with timely payments, partly due to dollar shortages, according to industry sources. Payments to Adani Power ranged between $20-50 million in recent months, compared to monthly bills of $90-100 million, according to the TOI report.
According to Power Grid Bangladesh (PGB) data, Adani's Godda plant in Jharkhand on Friday supplied only 724 MW of its 1,496 MW power generation capacity to Bangladesh. Apart from this, production in other big factories including Payra, Rampal, and SS Power I has also decreased due to fuel shortage.
Times of India reports that NTPC's joint venture Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company's Rampal plant in Bagerhat and SS Power I are already producing less than half due to coal shortage.
Although Adani has not yet commented on the matter, senior officials of the company told The Times of India that they are hopeful of a solution to the matter soon.
Incidentally, the previous Awami League government had issued special bonds to pay the outstanding electricity bills. At that time, the government took Tk20,620 crore from the market through bonds. City Bank and Pubali Bank were involved in this initiative to pay the outstanding liabilities of private power plants.
Later, since the interim government took over, Adani had been requesting payment of dues. Gautam Adani, the head of the company, had also written to Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus and requested him to pay the electricity bill.
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