Bangladesh’s High Court on Tuesday ordered the formation of a high-level inquiry committee to reevaluate the country’s agreements with the Adani Group electricity exports, Dhaka-based newspaper The Business Standard reported.
A bench of Justices Farah Mahbub and Debasish Roy Chowdhury directed the cabinet secretary to set up the committee comprising energy and legal experts within a month and to submit its report within the next two months.
The Adani Group exports electricity to Bangladesh from its unit in Jharkhand’s Godda district under an agreement signed in 2017.
The exports have long been at the centre of controversy, with experts contending that it entails Dhaka buying power at exorbitantly high prices.
In September, the Financial Times reported that the Adani Group had warned the neighbouring country that its overdue payments had become unsustainable. Earlier this month, reports said that the group had cut the electricity supply to Bangladesh by half because of the non-payment of dues.
On Tuesday, the court asked the authorities to explain why instructions should not be given to cancel the agreements with the group, The Business Standard reported. It also sought documents within a month on the negotiations that took place during the signing of the agreements.
The bench issued the order in response to a writ petition filed on November 13 by M Abdul Qaiyum, a lawyer in the country’s Supreme Court, seeking the cancellation of all electricity agreements with the Adani Group, Bangladeshi news agency UNB reported.
Earlier this month, the Adani Group also warned Bangladesh that it would completely suspend power supply to the country by November 7 if overdue payments of around $850 million (nearly Rs 7,200 crore) were not cleared.
However, the conglomerate later issued a clarification, stating that it had not demanded full payment within seven days, according to The Business Standard.
Adani Group’s power export to Bangladesh
The agreement between the Adani Group and the Bangladesh government was signed when the Awami League government headed by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was in power in Dhaka.
As part of the agreement, the plant in Jharkhand’s Godda supplies 7% to 10% of Bangladesh’s base load, or the minimum amount of electricity needed to meet a particular region’s demand.
Opposition parties in India have questioned whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi was directly involved in the deal between the Adani Group and the Bangladesh government.
After the Adani Group flagged non-payment of dues, Bangladesh’s interim government said it was planning to examine the terms under which Indian businesses operate there.
Last year, the Bangladesh Power Development Board wrote to the company seeking that the agreement be revised. While there was no official statement on the revisions sought, an unidentified official had told Bangladeshi news agency UNB that the high prices were the point of contention.
On August 5, Hasina resigned as Bangladesh’s prime minister and fled to India amid protests seeking her ouster. Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel laureate economist, took over as the head of the interim government on August 8.
Also read: With millions due to Adani Power, Bangladesh struggles with green energy shift
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