Photo: Collected
Following the fall of the Awami League-led government, India has decreased its electricity supply to Bangladesh due to a significant outstanding bill. This incident suggests that Bangladesh's power sector is facing a financial crisis.
Bangladesh has an agreement to import 2,656 megawatts of electricity from India. This electricity is imported from six public-private owned power stations in the country. For this, bills ranging from Tk 1,000 crore to Tk 1,400 crore have to be paid per month. However, due to a lack of regular subsidies, Bangladesh has been unable to pay the electricity import bill from India. Consequently, India has reduced its electricity supply to Bangladesh.
There has been widespread criticism across the country that Bangladesh is importing power at a higher rate. An analysis of India's import data shows that Adani is charging more than double. The cost per unit for the fiscal year 2022-2023 is Tk 4.22 for NVV LTD 250 MW India, Tk 8.45 for NVV LTD 160 MW Tripura India, Tk 7.15 for NVV LTD 300 MW India, Tk 9.5 for PTC India 200 MW, and Tk 9.95 per unit for Sembcorp Energy Ltd.
According to the Power Development Board (PDB), the total electricity import bill from India last financial year was Tk 16,450.14 crore. Of this amount, Tk 10,713.88 crore has been paid as of August. The outstanding electricity import bill from India is Tk 5,736.26 crore, which is 36 percent of the total bill. Taking the exchange rate of Tk 118, the outstanding amount is $48.61 million.
Data shows that Bangladesh currently buys 160 MW, 250 MW, and 300 MW of electricity in three phases from NVVN (Vidyut Vapar Nigam Limited), a subsidiary of the Indian state-owned company NTPC. Of this, 160 MW comes from Tripura. Additionally, 250 MW is imported from Sembcorp India, 200 MW from PTC, and 1,496 MW from Adani Power's Jharkhand.
Although Adani's Jharkhand power plant was built specifically for export to Bangladesh, India has recently changed the law in this regard. According to the new law, if the bill is not paid regularly or if Bangladesh's demand decreases, Adani will be able to sell Jharkhand's electricity to the Indian government as well. Meanwhile, NTPC's Tripura center is supplying only 60 MW to 100 MW of electricity instead of the agreed 160 MW due to non-payment of regular bills.
As of February, the import bill of Indian companies stood at Tk 3,637.16 crore for Adani, Tk 667.04 crore for Sembcorp Energy Ltd, Tk 586.06 crore for PTC India 200 MW, Tk 65.46 crore for NVV LTD 160 MW Tripura, and Tk 61.93 crore for NVV LTD 250 MW India.
The total outstanding import from India amounts to Tk 5,297 crore, of which Tk 3,637.61 crore is owed to the Adani Group. As of February 2023, the total outstanding amount for PDB stood at Tk 33,108 crore.
According to the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), Bangladesh has been importing 1,600 MW of electricity from the Adani Group since November 2018.
Secretary for Power Habibur Rahman did not respond to repeated calls from the reporter.
Messenger/Disha
