Page 8 - AsiaElec Week 06 2023
P. 8
AsiaElec POWER AsiaElec
Bangladesh wants new
power deal with India’s Adani
Concerns about overpriced coal suppy behind request for PPA revision
BANGLADESH THE Bangladesh Power Development Board plant in Jharkhand’s Godda district.
(BPDB), Dhaka’s state-owned entity charged A BPDB official reportedly said of the Adani
with the generation and distribution of the request: “(In) our view, the coal price they have
majority of the nation’s electricity demand, has quoted ($400 per metric tonne) is excessive; it
requested an updated power purchase agreement should be less than $250 per tonne, which is
(PPA) on electricity supplied by India’s Adani what we are paying for the imported coal at our
Power. other thermal power plants [TPPs].”
Sources in Dhaka last week hinted at Bang- India’s External Affairs Ministry spokesper-
ladeshi displeasure with Adani’s pricing of coal son Arindam Bagchi, when asked for comment
generated power in recent months. on the Bangladesh-Adani issue, said: “I under-
“We have communicated with the Indian stand you are referring to a deal between a sov-
company [about] seeking revision of the agree- ereign government and an Indian company.
ment” a company official told Press Trust Of I do not think we are involved in this”, before
India (PTI). adding when pushed: “We do think that greater
Power is supplied to Bangladesh from multi- economic integration and connectivity with our
ple sources in India, but it is the “high coal price” neighbours assists our process of development.
from the power plant in the east Indian state of We have been talking about our neighbours
Jharkhand that led to the request of a revision of benefiting from the economic growth of India.”
the existing PPA. Bagchi made no mention of headline-grab-
The current PPA with Adani Power was bing claims of stock manipulation and account-
agreed in 2017. ing fraud dating back decades at Adani. In the
Media sources in Bangladesh have since sent a past week, these claims have led to a deprecia-
BPDB letter to Adani which was used to convey tion in the region of $100bn in Adani’s market
the state-run organisation’s wish for a revision value; something the regional economic giant
of the PPA on the back of Adani letter of credit has called a “calculated attack on India, the
requests to BPDB. independence, integrity and quality of Indian
It is understood the Indian firm was looking institutions, and the growth story and ambition
to import coal to power its 1.6-GW coal power of India.”
P8 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 06 08 •February•2023
