Adani Group says Bangladesh’s $500 million debt from Godda power plant ‘unsustainable’ | The Business Standard
Skip to main content
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard

Monday
June 09, 2025

Sign In
Subscribe
  • Latest
  • Economy
    • Banking
    • Stocks
    • Industry
    • Analysis
    • Bazaar
    • RMG
    • Corporates
    • Aviation
  • Videos
    • TBS Today
    • TBS Stories
    • TBS World
    • News of the day
    • TBS Programs
    • Podcast
    • Editor's Pick
  • World+Biz
  • Features
    • Panorama
    • The Big Picture
    • Pursuit
    • Habitat
    • Thoughts
    • Splash
    • Mode
    • Tech
    • Explorer
    • Brands
    • In Focus
    • Book Review
    • Earth
    • Food
    • Luxury
    • Wheels
  • More
    • Sports
    • TBS Graduates
    • Bangladesh
    • Supplement
    • Infograph
    • Archive
    • Gallery
    • Long Read
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Magazine
    • Climate Change
    • Health
    • Cartoons
  • বাংলা
MONDAY, JUNE 09, 2025
Adani Group says Bangladesh’s $500 million debt from Godda power plant ‘unsustainable’

Bangladesh

TBS Report
09 September, 2024, 02:55 pm
Last modified: 09 September, 2024, 05:05 pm

Related News

  • India's Adani denies sanctions evasion or Iran LPG trade after WSJ reports US probe
  • Bangladesh repays $3.5b foreign debt in 10 months of FY25
  • India threatens two offshore funds holding Adani shares with penalties, document shows
  • Adani reps meet Trump officials in push to end US bribery cases: Bloomberg
  • Islami Bank moves to auction S Alam Group’s assets to recover debt

Adani Group says Bangladesh’s $500 million debt from Godda power plant ‘unsustainable’

Billionaire Gautam Adani's power generating unit has raked up unpaid dues of as much as $800 million from Bangladesh, where weeks of violent protests left hundreds dead and forced out the previous administration last month

TBS Report
09 September, 2024, 02:55 pm
Last modified: 09 September, 2024, 05:05 pm
Electric power transmission pylon miniatures and Adani Green Energy logo are seen in this illustration taken, on 9 December 2022. Photo: Reuters
Electric power transmission pylon miniatures and Adani Green Energy logo are seen in this illustration taken, on 9 December 2022. Photo: Reuters

India's Adani Group has warned Bangladesh's new government that its overdue payments for coal power supply from the controversial Godda plant have become "unsustainable".

Speaking to Financial Times, the Adani Power in a statement said, "We are in constant dialogue with the Bangladesh government and have appraised them of this unsustainable situation where we are meeting not just our supply commitment but also [commitments] to our lenders and suppliers in spite of rising receivables." 

It, however, added that the conglomerate would "continue to supply reliable and competitively priced power from our Godda facility to Bangladesh, despite mounting dues".

Billionaire Gautam Adani's power generating unit has raked up unpaid dues of as much as $800 million from Bangladesh, where weeks of violent protests left hundreds dead and forced out the previous administration last month.

The Business Standard Google News Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel

Speaking to Bloomberg news, Governor Ahsan H Mansur said, "If we don't pay them, they will stop providing electricity."

Meanwhile, Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, Yunus's top energy adviser, told the FT that Bangladesh is late on paying $492mn to Adani, to whom it owes as much as $800mn in total. 

He said the interim government had approached lenders including the World Bank for billions of dollars in loans to help stabilise its finances. "Since joining [the government], we've been firefighting," Khan said.

Gautam Adani shared a post on X in 2022 on the commissioning of the Godda power project and lauding the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina's vision for Bangladesh. The plant started commercial operations in April last year.

An unsustainable deal?

With Bangladesh buying some of its power from India's electricity exchange market at almost half the price of Adani coal power plant, the power deal with the Indian power giant has come into question that had a significant role in increasing Bangladesh's power price by as much as 8%.

According to official data, Bangladesh bought Adani's power for Tk14.02 per kilowatt-hour (or a unit) in 2023. Bangladesh bought another 1,100MW power from India's electricity exchange market at Tk7.83 per unit.

Adani's alone supplies around one-tenth of Bangladesh's total power need. And its impact can be seen in the average power generation cost in the country. 

Whereas average generation cost was Tk5.91 per unit five years back, and Tk8.84 in 2021-22, it has become Tk11.03 per unit now. However, Adani's power is not the only factor in such an increase. There are several other unfavourable power contracts that have contributed to this situation.

Even before commercial supply began in April last year, power officials had raised concerns over the Adani plant's coal pricing formula and requested a revision of the power purchase agreement.

In a letter to Adani Power in December 2022, the Power Division mentioned that Adani quoted $400 per tonne of coal, which was $245 per tonne for Payra power plant in Bangladesh.

But their concerns were not considered.

"What is agreed will remain as it is. Electricity prices will increase and decrease, along with coal's price on global markets," the then state minister for energy Nasrul Hamid told the media in February 2023.

The rationale of the power purchase agreement (PPA) with Adani was questioned soon after it was signed in Dhaka in November 2017, when the country already had higher installed capacity than actual generation. 

By the time Adani power started flowing into Bangladesh, the installed capacity rose to 24,911MW in June 2023, with peak generation reaching 15,648MW in that fiscal year.

Experts also found the then government's projection of future generation electricity was based on an unrealistic estimate of demand growth. 

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) found the government's projection – energy demand to cross 50,000MW in 2041 – "overly ambitious" and based on unrealistic demand growth in the integrated master plan drafted by the energy ministry in June 2022.

Already, there were a number of coal-based power plants either under construction or planned. With Bangladesh's gas reserves dwindling, the government was opting for coal-based and fuel oil-run private power plants, leading to higher generation cost and increased spending in subsidy and capacity charge.

By the time electricity supply started from Adani's first unit in April last year, the government was being increasingly burdened with unpaid bills of local power and gas producers due to both cash crunch and dollar crisis. 

On 29 May, India's Adani Group Director Pranav Adani met the then finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali requesting quick clearance of outstanding electricity bills amounting to around $700 million.

Experts, however, consistently raised flags about the deal.

Energy expert Prof M Tamim said the Adani power deal requires scrutiny. 

"I don't know what is inside the agreement. If there is any serious lack of fairness and equity, it definitely calls for a review."

Usually, such purchase agreements contain clause that allows renegotiation in case of any disputes or withdrawal by any of the parties in case of any violation of the contract, said Prof Tamim, a teacher of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Engineering, Buet, who was a special assistant to the 2007-08 caretaker government chief on energy affairs.

"It depends on the type of the contract. All such deals are expected to be balanced, protecting the investors as well as being win-win for all parties," he said.

M Shamsul Alam, vice president of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh, said the deal must be reviewed as it was unsolicited and favoured only the investor undermining the national interest.

"Even it can be scrapped altogether. If the government does not do it, people can go to court seeking to scrap the Adani power deal," he said, citing instances of such legal steps against Niko and some others.

As there was no bidding, the investor maximised their gains and got the deal signed absolutely in their favour, the energy analyst said. When procurement costs rise, the single buyer, the state-owned PDB, passes it on to consumers and makes them pay a high price for electricity. "Here the government itself appears to be profit-monger," he pointed out. 

Top News

Adani Group / Godda power plant / debt

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Photos: Collected
    Abdul Hamid wasn't arrested because he's not wanted right now: Home adviser
  • A surveillance footage shows crew of the Gaza-bound British-flagged yacht "Madleen", put their hands up as strong light came into the vessel, in this screengrab from a video released on June 9, 2025. Freedom Flotilla Coalition/Handout via REUTERS
    Israeli forces seize Gaza aid boat carrying Greta Thunberg
  • Adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain today visited different areas of Muradnagar and exchanged Eid greetings with locals. Photo: Screengrab
    EC will announce national polls roadmap in due time following CA’s declaration: Asif Mahmud

MOST VIEWED

  • File Photo: British MP Tulip Siddiq attends a news conference with Richard Ratcliffe, the husband of jailed British-Iranian aid worker Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, in London, Britain October 11, 2019. Photo: REUTERS/Peter Nicholls/File Photo
    Tulip requests CA Yunus for a meeting over corruption allegations: Guardian
  • Representational image of Dhaka metro rail. Photo: Mumit M/TBS
    Metro rail takes Eid break today
  • Photo: Reuters
    Trump says Musk relationship over, warns of 'serious consequences' if he funds Democrats
  • Representational image. Photo: Reuters
    Bangladesh reports 3 more Covid-19 cases
  • Muhammad Yunus (L) and Narendra Modi. Photo: Collected
    Modi sends Eid-ul-Adha greetings, Yunus calls for continued bilateral cooperation
  • Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal
    From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

Related News

  • India's Adani denies sanctions evasion or Iran LPG trade after WSJ reports US probe
  • Bangladesh repays $3.5b foreign debt in 10 months of FY25
  • India threatens two offshore funds holding Adani shares with penalties, document shows
  • Adani reps meet Trump officials in push to end US bribery cases: Bloomberg
  • Islami Bank moves to auction S Alam Group’s assets to recover debt

Features

File photo of Eid holidaymakers returning to the capital from their country homes/Rajib Dhar

Dhaka: The city we never want to return to, but always do

5h | Features
Photo collage shows political posters in Bagerhat. Photos: Jannatul Naym Pieal

From Sheikh Dynasty to sibling rivalry: Bagerhat signals a turning tide in local politics

2d | Bangladesh
Illustration: TBS

Unbearable weight of the white coat: The mental health crisis in our medical colleges

4d | Panorama
(From left) Sadia Haque, Sylvana Quader Sinha and Tasfia Tasbin. Sketch: TBS

Meet the women driving Bangladesh’s startup revolution

5d | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

CA leaves for London this evening on four-day official tour

CA leaves for London this evening on four-day official tour

36m | TBS Today
Former BGMEA Senior Vice President Abdullah Hill Rakib passes away

Former BGMEA Senior Vice President Abdullah Hill Rakib passes away

1h | Others
What explanation did the Home Affairs Advisor give for not arresting former President Abdul Hamid?

What explanation did the Home Affairs Advisor give for not arresting former President Abdul Hamid?

2h | TBS Today
Former president Abdul Hamid returns to Bangladesh from Thailand

Former president Abdul Hamid returns to Bangladesh from Thailand

3h | TBS Today
EMAIL US
contact@tbsnews.net
FOLLOW US
WHATSAPP
+880 1847416158
The Business Standard
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Sitemap
  • Advertisement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
Copyright © 2025
The Business Standard All rights reserved
Technical Partner: RSI Lab

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net