Bangladesh seeks full power supply restoration from Adani plant in Jharkhand
The Hindu
Bangladesh asks Adani Power to resume full supplies from Jharkhand plant amid payment disputes and low demand.
Bangladesh has asked Adani Power to fully resume supplies from its 1,600-megawatt plant in Jharkhand, a Bangladesh official said, after more than three months of reduced sales with supplies halved due to low winter demand and payment disputes.
Adani, which signed a 25-year contract under former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in 2017, has been supplying power from its $2 billion plant in Godda, Jharkhand. The plant, with two units each of 800 megawatts capacity, sells exclusively to Bangladesh.
The company halved supply to Bangladesh on October 31 due to payment delays as the country battled a foreign exchange shortage. This led to the shutdown of one unit on November 1, resulting in the plant operating at about 42% capacity.
Subsequently, Bangladesh told Adani to keep supplying only half the power.
The state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) said it had been paying $85 million a month to Adani to clear outstanding dues and has now told the company to resume supply from the second unit.
"As per our requirement today, they have planned to synchronise the second unit, but due to the high vibration, it didn't happen," BPDB Chairperson Md. Rezaul Karim told Reuters, referring to some technical problems that stopped the unit from restarting on Monday (February 10, 2025).
"Right now, we are making a payment of $85 million per month. We are trying to pay more, and our intention is to reduce the overdue. Now there is no big issue with Adani."