Bangladesh buys Adani power at nearly 50% higher cost under Hasina–Adani deal: Report

A review committee formed by the interim Bangladeshi government to probe deals signed during the tenure of the now-ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina revealed “egregious anomalies” in the power purchase agreement with the Adani Group, including Bangladesh paying “4–5 cents more” per unit — roughly 50% higher than electricity imported from other Indian sources — as well as alleged illegal transactions worth several million US dollars, prompting the government to consider moving an international arbitration tribunal in Singapore to annul the contract.

The findings were made public after the National Review Committee on Power Purchase Agreements, constituted in September 2024, briefed the media on Sunday, recommending legal action against the agreement signed with Adani Power during the Awami League government, which was forced out of office following weeks of student-led protests that culminated in Hasina fleeing to India in August last year.

The committee has been examining several high-value energy and infrastructure deals cleared during Hasina’s 16-year rule, against the backdrop of strained relations between Dhaka and New Delhi since her ouster and the installation of an interim government led by Nobel laureate economist Muhammad Yunus.

Adani Power, a subsidiary of the Indian conglomerate, supplies electricity to Bangladesh from its 1,600-megawatt coal-fired plant at Godda in Jharkhand, which comprises two units of 800 megawatts each and operates under a 25-year agreement signed in 2017, enabling the plant to meet between seven and 10% of Bangladesh’s baseload power demand of around 13 gigawatts for a population of 170 million.

According to the committee, the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board has been paying significantly higher tariffs for Adani’s electricity compared to power imported from other Indian suppliers, a disparity that it said could not be justified on technical or commercial grounds and which contributed to losses of up to $4.13 billion suffered by the utility in the 2024–25 financial year.

The panel also claimed to have uncovered evidence of alleged illegal financial transactions involving seven to eight individuals linked to the Adani Power agreement, amounting to several million US dollars, details of which have been forwarded to the Anti-Corruption Commission for further investigation.

In its report, the committee argued that these decisions could not be dismissed as administrative errors, suggesting instead a pattern of collusion between businesses, politicians and bureaucrats to award overpriced and unnecessary contracts, thereby generating excess profits that were allegedly shared among the parties involved.

Bangladesh currently pays Adani Power about $1 billion annually under the contract, a scale of financial exposure that the committee said made it essential for the agreement to be subjected to rigorous legal scrutiny.

Responding to the allegations, Adani Power maintained that its electricity was among the most competitatively priced supplies available to Bangladesh, while urging Dhaka to clear outstanding dues, warning that delays in payment were affecting its operations even as it continued to honour its supply commitments.

The Adani deal has long been controversial in Bangladesh, where energy experts have criticised the pricing structure, while opposition parties in India have questioned whether Prime Minister Narendra Modi had any direct role in facilitating the agreement, issues that have gained renewed traction as the Yunus-led interim government moves to reassess the terms under which Indian companies operate in the country.