Adani Group:
No Ultimatum Given to Bangladesh for Outstanding Payments
Adani Power, a subsidiary of the Adani Group, has clarified that no ultimatum was issued to Bangladesh for settling outstanding payments.
In a statement released through a PR firm, Adani Power refuted claims that it demanded a full payment of $800–$850 million within seven days. Instead, Adani confirmed it is working cooperatively with Bangladesh’s Power Development Board (PDB) to resolve the matter.
Bangladesh’s UNB news agency reported this information on Sunday, November 3.
Previously, The Times of India had claimed that Adani Group had set a deadline of November 7 for Bangladesh to settle $850 million in dues, equivalent to around 100 billion BDT.
Following these reports, Bangladesh’s Chief Advisor’s Press Wing assured that the outstanding amount owed to Adani Group would be paid soon. Shafiqul Alam, the Chief Advisor’s Press Secretary, confirmed this during a press conference on November 3 at the Foreign Service Academy on Hare Road, Dhaka.
Shafiqul Alam stated, "It is true that Adani Group is owed payments for electricity imports, and we have accelerated the process. The significant outstanding amount is primarily due to the previous authoritarian regime, the Awami League, which left behind substantial dues. This accumulation has led to the current situation."
He further mentioned that a payment of $97 million was made to Adani last month, which is double the amount paid in August or the previous month. Bangladesh is now making maximum efforts to speed up payments as foreign reserves have started to increase, allowing international payments without drawing from reserves. The remaining balance of $700 million is also expected to be cleared soon.
Earlier, Adani Group had set an initial payment deadline of October 31 for the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB). Additionally, Adani requested a Letter of Credit (LC) for $170 million as a guarantee of payment.
Though PDB issued an LC through the Agricultural Bank, it did not meet the terms of the electricity purchase agreement, citing the dollar crisis as a primary reason. Consequently, on October 31, Adani Group reduced its electricity supply from its Jharkhand power plant to Bangladesh by half.
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