Bangladesh is increasing payments to Adani Power after the Indian conglomerate, reportedly over an unpaid $800m bill, sliced electricity supplies by half.
Two senior government officials told the BBC they have begun processing partial payments to Adani, which supplies 10% of the electricity used by Bangladesh.
We have addressed payment glitches and already issued a $170 million [£143m] letter of credit to Adani group,” a senior Bangladesh Power Development Board official told the BBC.
Adani supplies Bangladesh from its 1600-megawatt coal-fired plant in eastern India. The company hasn’t responded to BBC queries about cuts to its supply to Bangladesh, which suffers regular power shortages.
Officials say the company has threatened to suspend all supplies if the money owed to it is not cleared by 7 November. But the Bangladesh Power Development Board official said they did “not believe it would not come to a stage where full supplies are cut off”.
Bangladesh officials told the BBC they will make payments gradually and regularly and are confident of resolving the payment crisis.
“We are shocked and surprised that despite us ramping up payments, supplies have been cut. We are ready to repay and will make alternate arrangements, but will not let any power producer hold us hostage and blackmail us,” said Fouzul Kabir Khan, energy adviser to the interim government.
Bangladesh stepped up repayments from $35m in July, to $68m in September and $97m in October, he said.
This is the last thing that could have happened at a worse time because already power shortages are increasing within the countryside.
