Bangladesh seeks revision of deal with Adani Power

New Delhi, Feb. 3 -- Authorities in Bangladesh have sought a revision of an agreement with Adani Power Ltd for importing electricity from a thermal power plant in Jharkhand over the "excessive" pricing of coal, according to a Bangladeshi media report.

The Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Adani Power in Dhaka in November 2017 to supply 1,496 MW of electricity from a coal-based power plant at Godda in Jharkhand. BPDB, which oversees the development of Bangladesh's power sector, has sent a letter to Adani Power regarding revision of the agreement, the United News of Bangladesh (UNB) news agency reported, citing unnamed officials. Dhaka's position on the issue was also communicated to Adani Power when Bangladesh's state minister for power, Nasrul Hamid, visited the power plant in the first week of January, the report said.

External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, while responding to questions on the issue at a weekly media briefing, described the matter as a deal between a sovereign government and an Indian company. "I don't think we are involved in this," he said.

Queries sent to Adani Power, union ministry of power and Bangladesh Power Development Board remained unanswered till press time.

India believes greater economic integration with neighbours assists the process of development. "We have been talking about our neighbours benefiting from the economic growth of India. We have tried to make it easier for connectivity, be it physical or energy or power transmission...This is part of our larger strategy of Neighbourhood First. Under that we would like to see greater economic interconnections, integration of projects, investments, but if a certain project is not working for financial or economic reasons, I don't think that's a reflection on the relationship," he said.

(With inputs from Mint correspondent) Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Hindustan Times. For any query with respect to this article or any other content requirement, please contact Editor at contentservices@htlive.com