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The Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources has submitted a request to the Finance Division for the disbursement of Tk 3,800 crore to settle the bills owed to the Indian Adani Group for electricity and coal imports.
According to the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Bangladesh has been importing 1,600 MW of electricity from the Adani Group since November 2018. This arrangement is governed by a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) signed between BPDB and Adani Power in November 2017, which spans a duration of 25 years.
Under the terms of the agreement, the electricity is transmitted through a dedicated 400kV transmission line connected to Bangladesh's national power grid. This transmission line is operated and managed by the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Ltd (PGCB).
Officials have disclosed that in order to ensure uninterrupted power supply, they have written a letter to the Power Division requesting funds as a subsidy from the budget of the fiscal year 2023-2024.
According to the letter, there is a demand for Tk 4,000 crore for the month of March 2024. Out of this amount, Tk 1,500 crore is required to settle the dues of Adani Power (Jharkhand) Limited, while another Tk 1,500 crore is needed to clear outstanding bills of domestic coal-based power plants. Additionally, an emergency subsidy totaling Tk 3,000 crore is being sought.
State Minister for the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid Bipu expressed, "We are facing a shortage of funds. We are actively working to resolve this crisis and are in communication with the Ministry of Finance and the Bangladesh Bank."
The senior secretary of the Power Division Habibur Rahman said "We have sent a demand note to the Finance Division for $400 million but we are getting $176 million per month.”
According to BPDB, about Tk 27,500 crores of outstanding bills of creditors have been submitted to the BPDB. Of these, Adani, India’s NTPC, Bangladesh China Friendship Company (BCPCL) are on the que. The private power plants (IPPs) of the private owners of the country have accumulated a lot of outstanding bills. Moreover, due to dollar crisis import of coal and LNG are getting difficult. Thus, production may hamper soon.
Relevant sources think, this crisis may condense in the coming days as the central bank could not supply adequate dollars even after repeated meeting. As a result, the import and supply of fuel oil, coal, LNG is moving towards uncertainty.
Demand-driven power generation and supply may fall into crisis in summer season. According to sources in the ministry, there is continuous pressure from the creditors to pay the bills. Some suppliers have also hinted that they may cut off supplies if bills are not paid regularly.
The power secretary said that the demand for electricity will become high till the middle of April. As a result, efforts are being made to produce and supply electricity as per the demand till October.
According to previous instruction of Prime Minister, the Power Division was supposed to get $1 billion every month but the finance division has not been disbursed according to schedules. Though, the Power Division needs $4 billion to pay the outstanding bills.
The power sector has requested the government an additional subsidy of Tk 32,000 crore in the current financial year.
Messenger/Fameema
