Adani warns of power cut from 11 Nov over unpaid dues

Staff Reporter :

Adani Power has issued a warning that it may halt electricity supply to Bangladesh starting 11 November if the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) does not clear its “long-standing” dues by 10 November, confirmed Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan. The Energy Adviser said, “Adani sent us a letter requesting settlement of outstanding bills. In it, they threatened to suspend power supply from 11 November if payments are not made by November 10.”

Officials from PDB and the Power Division said the warning arrived in a formal letter sent in late October by Avinash Anurag, Head of Energy Regulatory & Commercial at Adani Power, addressed to the PDB chairman. In the letter, Adani Power noted that PDB had not settled $496 million in long-overdue bills despite repeated reminders. Of this amount, PDB itself has acknowledged $262 million as unpaid.

Citing the continued non-payment, Adani referred to sections 13.2(i)(i) and (ii) of the 2017 Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), which allow the company to suspend supply in case of buyer default. The company also said that even if supply is halted, it remains entitled to capacity payments based on the plant’s “dependable capacity.”

When asked about the government’s response if Adani follows through, Fouzul Kabir said, “We will sit down to address the matter.”

This is not the first tension between Adani and PDB. Earlier in November 2024, Adani Power reduced electricity supply to Bangladesh by around 60%, citing overdue bills of $800 million – a figure PDB disputed, saying it was calculated using Adani’s own methodology.

According to PDB’s FY2023–24 annual report, Adani Power supplied an average of 932.31 MW per month from its 1,600 MW Godda Power Plant in Jharkhand, India, which was built exclusively for exporting electricity to Bangladesh.

After the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in August last year, the Indian government amended the 2018 guidelines that regulate electricity generators supplying power exclusively to neighboring countries, allowing Adani to sell electricity in India’s domestic market.