Firm stance needed on unfair Adani power deal

FE Team | Published: January 27, 2026 20:11:45

The National Review Committee formed by the interim government to look into the suspected anomalies in the power purchase agreements (PPAs) struck with the Indian Adani Power Ltd and some local independent power generation companies during the Awami League-led autocratic regime has come up with evidences of widespread irregularities and corruption. The contracts were awarded without any competitive bidding but by orders from the then-prime minister's office. So, the power tariffs fixed by the supplier companies were excessive and against the interest of Bangladesh. Especially, the 25-year PPA with Adani power Ltd, that started supplying power to Bangladesh since 2023, has been found to be unfair and graft-ridden, the Committee reportedly told journalists at a recently-held press briefing. The evidences of such irregularities and graft were learnt to be amply supported by bank records, transaction dates, foreign travel documents of the government high-ups, to name but a few of the instances.
The power supply contract inked with Adani Power Ltd during the autocratic regime has proved to be an albatross around the neck of the government. In fact, Bangladesh has to pay the company excess charges between US$450 and US$500 million annually. The fallout from this deal is that over the contract's lifetime, an aggregate sum of US$10 billion will be due to the Indian power supplier. The worse part of the PPAs including the one cut with Adani is that, as pointed out by the Committee, those (PPAs) were indemnified by a special law, styled, 'Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provision) Act 2010. The law in question was scrapped by the interim government in November last year.
Obviously, the Committee suggested that the government should seek compensation from the Adani Group or cancel the contract before the contract is affirmed. Notably, the contract is so structured that it has allowed Adani to profit from the entire supply chain, including mining in Australia, port handling and transportation of coal to the Godda power plant at Jharkhand in India and so on that ultimately passed all the costs unfairly to the Bangladeshi consumers. The power pricing formula is also heavily skewed against Bangladesh as the costs (charged by Adani) are significantly higher than the power supplied by the coal-fired power plants in Bangladesh. So far as tax issues are concerned, under the contract, Adani has included Indian excise duties and taxes in the tariff paid by Bangladesh, which are definitely unfair. Add to that the later instance of withholding certain tax benefits from the Godda plant, which was, evidently, egregious as it was done in breach of the original PPA. However, the PDB's approach to settle the issues directly with Adani was, reportedly, spurned by the latter, who on the contrary, was in favour of appointing a mediator. Clearly, the suggestion implied that instead of direct talks, the Indian power supplier was rather interested in engaging in a legal battle at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. No doubt, that would not only be a time-consuming affair, but also involved the risk of paying huge penalties at the arbitration. In that case, what are the options open to Bangladesh? Should it continue to go by the unfair conditions of the deal with Adani to the ultimate disadvantage of Bangladesh and its consumers or cancel it (the deal) altogether despite risks and challenges involved? Needless to say, despite its limitations, the interim admin has to take an expeditious but firm, well-thought-out stance on the Adani power deal issue, if only, to protect national interest before it is too late.