Staff Reporter :
The interim government has cleared Tk. 18,631 crore in outstanding foreign power bills over the past year, officials from the Power Division said it on Thursday.
“The government is working actively to settle overdue payments, including those owed to Adani Power of India and other suppliers,” Dr. Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, Adviser to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources said media.
He said that out of the total amount, Tk. 5,000 crore was paid to Adani Power Limited against a total outstanding bill of Tk. 7,934.89 crore. “As of now, the remaining payable amount to Adani stands at Tk. 2,363.50 crore,” Khan said.
To enhance financial efficiency, the government also took steps to cut unnecessary expenditures in various power projects, resulting in savings of Tk. 6,479 crore.
Officials noted that over the past year, import service charges for energy in private power plants were reduced from 9% to 5%, saving Tk. 470 crore. Additionally, the shipment size for fuel imports was increased from 15,000 tonnes to 20,000 tonnes, generating further savings of Tk. 354 crore.
Renegotiated tariffs were also introduced-now lower than the average selling price of Tk. 8.95 per unit-contributing to annual savings of approximately Tk. 2,500 crore. In a bid to cut costs further, the government shut down 10 outdated and inefficient power plants operated by Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and rental services. These plants had a combined generation capacity of 1,010 MW and their closure saved Tk. 525 crore.
Public sector power generation companies also took measures to save an additional Tk. 2,630 crore.
The Power Division has proposed to the National Board of Revenue (NBR) a reduction in source tax from the existing rate of 6%, as part of broader efforts to enhance revenue collection, which was targeted at Tk. 9,210 crore from rental establishments.
Meanwhile, on May 6, 2025, the advisory council approved in principle an amendment to the Renewable Energy Policy.
Under the revised policy, the government has set a target of generating 3,000 MW of green energy from rooftop solar panels nationwide. The rooftop solar programme is expected to be fully implemented by December this year, with surplus electricity to be integrated into the national grid.
