India's Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani and the company's top executives have been sued in a US court. Energy experts in Dhaka believe that this may affect any negotiations between Adani Group and Bangladesh in the future. Indian media The Hindu reported this news.
The case was filed in the United States a day after the High Court of Bangladesh ordered an investigation into the 1,600 MW power supply contract with the Adani Group. According to their complaint, Gautam Adani paid bribes to Indian officials to get a lucrative solar power supply job. Because of this, an arrest warrant has been issued against him.
During the Sheikh Hasina government, the question about the high cost of the Adani project was raised. In February 2023, the Power Development Board of Bangladesh (PDB) requested Adani Power to revise the price. Adani was demanding USD 400 per metric ton of coal. BPDB said it has bought coal for $250 a tonne for other coal-fired power plants.
Bangladesh University of Engineering (BUET) former professor. Ijaz Hossain said that the energy deal between Adani and Sheikh Hasina government was controversial from the beginning as it was done without tender like other contracts. However, the interim government tried to continue the dialogue with a positive attitude. However, after the lawsuit against Adani in the US, the space for dialogue may narrow. Bangladesh can now apply pressure on them regarding high prices.
Meanwhile, the Indian government is silent on this deal. India's Ministry of External Affairs has not commented on the case, The Hindu reported. However, concerned officials said that Delhi has not interfered in the power supply under the JTUJI (Government to Government) agreement between the governments of the two countries. They think that they will not change their position unless they are absolutely forced to.
Adani Power Limited (APL), an Adani Group company, started supplying electricity to Bangladesh from its 800 MW Ultra-Super Critical Thermal Power Unit in Jharkhand from April 2023. This project was undertaken to meet the needs of the rapidly growing energy market in Bangladesh.
Dr. Ijaz Hossain said, initially their proposal seemed quite attractive. Because they promised to meet the needs of Bangladesh by bringing coal from Australia and Indonesia.
He also said that Bangladesh does not have a deep sea port to import coal on a large scale. So Adani's proposal seemed logical then. However, critics claim that even though Adani gets government subsidies in India, that benefit has not reached Bangladesh.
After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, several energy projects, including the deal with the Adani Group, came under criticism. Coal-based power projects in particular come under renewed scrutiny. A special committee headed by eminent economist Debapriya Bhattacharya has started investigating these deals.
However, the interim government continued the dialogue with Adani Power despite the negative public response. After threatening to cut off power supply, the government promised to pay Rs 1,450 crore dues. It keeps the power supply going.
The Dhaka High Court recently ordered a high-level probe into the Adani deal. This created a new opportunity to renegotiate the entire agreement.
Meanwhile, Kenyan President William Ruto canceled two major contracts with Adani following the US lawsuit. One of them is related to the renovation of the country's main airport. And the second is an agreement with Kenya's Ministry of Energy for the construction of power lines.
