Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
India's Adani Power Limited (APL) has sought Bangladesh Finance Adviser's intervention in expediting the process of settling its more than US$900 million worth of outstanding dues.
Managing Director of the group Anil Sardana recently made a request in this regard in a letter to Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, according to officials.
The state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) owed the dues as outstanding bills to the Indian company until May last, sources said.
Besides, the APL has also requested the authorities concerned to make necessary monetary allocation for Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) or any other authorised bank to facilitate early liquidation of its outstanding dues.
The Bangladesh Bank (BB) has already authorised the state-owned Krishi Bank to make payment against dues to India's Adani Power (Jharkhand) Limited.
When asked, Chairman of BPDB Engineer Md Rezaul Karim said: "We are trying to make payment against the outstanding dues of Adani Power Limited.
He, however, said the state-owned power entity might not be able to clear the entire pending bills at one go.
A new development to this end was expected in a day or two, he mentioned.
The MD of APL in its request letter mentioned: "We have been repeatedly informed that due to inadequate availability of foreign exchange, outstanding dues exceeding U$ 900 million by end of May-2025 have built up, thus leaving us in tremendous hardships and in a situation of embarrassment with the lenders."
He, however, gave assurance of uninterrupted power supply and other reliable services to Bangladesh.
According to the official, Adani claims that around $900 million remains unpaid in power bills, including interest, while the BPDB estimates the amount to be around $700 million.
Under a deal in 2015, the APL has been supplying 1496-megawatt (MW) power to Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) from its dedicated Ultra Super Critical Thermal Power Project located at Godda, Jharkhand, India (Godda TPP) in pursuit of a long-term Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) since its commencement of supplies in April-2023.
The plant has emerged as a major source of electricity supply in northern Bangladesh.
The APL has been providing uninterrupted supply of power to BPDB and in return the company had been requesting the BPDB to clear its huge overdue payments on account of supply of power under the PPA, the letter mentioned.
The APL in its letter claimed that the delayed and inadequate payments from the BPDB had badly affected its financial position, thus causing an immense problem with servicing debts to its lenders. The working capital was being managed through costly borrowings to procure fuel and spares, the letter said.
The financial institutions concerned were threatening to withdraw the capital support to APL due to the aforesaid BPDB's continuous default on payment, it added.
Apart from the huge pile of outstanding dues, the BPDB is managing payment against monthly bills of around U$ 90-100 million for regular power supplies.
The BB has allocated US dollars to all the banks including Bangladesh Krishi Bank, which is the nodal bank deployed by BPDB.
The company has been paid U$10-20 million per month so far, they added. Its regular bill is about U$80 million per month.
rezamumu@gmail.com