Bangladesh wants revision of power purchase deal with Adani – EQ Mag
Anr official of BPDB said that they found the coal price quoted by the company to be excessive. They had reportedly quoted USD400/MT, but it should be less than USD250/MT.
Bangladesh has reportedly sought a revision of the 2017 power purchase agreement with Adani Power Ltd since the electricity pricing appeared too expensive. An official from the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) said that the same has been communicated with the Adani company.
According to reports, the high coal price to be purchased from Jharkhand emerged as the key factor. The BPDB sent a letter seeking revision as it received a request from Adani Power in relation to opening LCs (Letter of Credit) in India to import coal for the 1,600 MW plant in Jharkhand’s Godda, as per a report in PTI.
Another official of BPDB said that they found the coal price quoted by the company to be excessive. They had reportedly quoted USD400/MT, but it should be less than USD250/MT, which is what BPDB is reportedly paying for imported coal at their other thermal power plants.
When asked to comment on the development, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that it is a deal between a sovereign country and an Indian company, and they are not involved in this.
The request to review the power procurement agreement came just before BPDB could start importing the electricity. Adani Power requires a demand note from BPDB to be presented to the Indian authorities before opening LCs against the coal import as their plant is meant for exporting power to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh currently imports 1,160MW of electricity from India while under the 2017 agreement, Dhaka is supposed to buy 1,600 MW electricity from Adani Power Ltd for 25 years and start getting electricity from March this year.
Other officials who are familiar with the process said that unlike the cases with other independent power producers, there was no provisions for discounts on coal purchases in the agreement with Adani Power.
This comes amid a time of crisis for the Adani Group that has seen the shares of its listed companies tanking in the Indian markets, which is the eventual result of the short-seller Hindenburg Research’s report that alleged the conglomerate of stock manipulation and accounting fraud.
Source: PTI
