Bangladesh has made significant progress in clearing overdue payments to India’s Adani Power for electricity supplied from the Godda thermal power plant, even as power imports from the plant continue without disruption, said a senior company official.
Adani Power said Bangladesh is steadily paying off outstanding dues linked to the 1,600 MW Godda plant in Jharkhand, which supplies electricity exclusively to Bangladesh under a long-term agreement. Despite earlier concerns over payment delays, the supply arrangement with the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) remains operational and commercially stable, Anil Sardana, Managing Director of Adani Power told company’s shareholders during its Annual General Meeting recently, and as reported in an Indian media named the hindu businessline.
Sardana noted that Bangladesh has already cleared a substantial portion of past arrears and has demonstrated a commitment to settle the remaining liabilities. “They have paid a lot of arrears and continue to commit that they do not want these dues to linger,” Sardana said, adding that the dues have been acknowledged by the Bangladesh side and are being gradually liquidated.
The Godda plant is a key component of Bangladesh’s strategy to secure reliable baseload power through cross-border electricity imports. The country has increasingly relied on imported electricity from India in recent years to support industrial demand and manage fuel supply constraints in domestic generation.
The uninterrupted flow of power from Godda has helped ensure stability in Bangladesh’s grid, particularly during periods of high demand, according to sector observers. The plant meets ~10-12% of the country’s overall power demand and upto 25% of the northern region’s.
Sardana clarified that the ongoing dispute between Adani Power and BPDB is limited in scope in relation to imported fuel pricing and benchmark indices and does not affect electricity supply. He emphasized that the differences are “very small” and are expected to be resolved through the established process.
While Sardana didn’t disclose the pending dues in his address to the shareholders, BPDB sources said the admitted dues were over $400 million while the claimed dues were much higher. Currently the partners are engaged to resolve the claimed dues amount.