Bangladesh to expedite payment to Adani Power after supply reduced: Report

Bangladesh is set to fast-track payment of Adani Power’s unfulfilled dues ahead of the Gautam Adani-led firm’s November 7 deadline to the neighbouring country’s interim government to complete the payment, worth $846 million.

“Adani Power set the deadline for the receipt of dues as it faces challenges in importing coal necessary for power generation,” a Reuters report quoted three sources familiar with the matter, as saying.

In April 2023, the company began supplying power to Bangladesh from its 1496 MW plant at Godda in eastern India’s Jharkhand state. Last week, on the night of October 31, it reduced the supply to 700 MW, according to a senior official at the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB).

The reduction in supply came after Adani Power wrote to PDB seeking fulfillment of the unpaid bills. The letter, dated October 27, warned failure to clear the bills would lead to a suspension of power supply by October 31 under the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).

Bangladesh has been struggling to pay its bills due to costly fuel and goods imports since the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022. Its own political crisis – the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s government in August after months of student-led protests – compounded the problems.

Also Read | Bangladesh’s interim government to review Adani Power deal: Report

The country is now led by an interim government headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

“Last month, we cleared $96 million, and this month, a letter of credit has been opened for an additional $170 million,” Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, the power and energy adviser in the caretaker government, told Reuters.

In a quarterly earnings call last week, Adani Power CFO Dilip Kumar Jha said there were ‘no issues’ regarding the power supply. Also, he was optimistic there would be ‘no further deterioration’ in terms of the outstanding.

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