Adani to restore power to Bangladesh in a few days: Reuters

Supply from a 1,600 MW powerplant was halved in October due to payment delays

After three months, Adani Power has agreed to restore the full supply from a 1,600 MW power plant in India to Bangladesh within a few days, according to a report by Reuters.

However, the company has rejected Dhaka’s requests for discounts and tax benefits.

As Bangladesh struggled with a foreign currency shortage, Adani halved the power supply on Oct 31 amid payment delays. One of the two equal-sized units of the plant were shutdown the following day. Bangladesh then requested for half the supply to be maintained through the winter.

But, as the demand for power is set to spike in the summer, the Bangladesh Power Development Board has requested that Adani resume its full supplies by next week. Two Reuters sources with direct knowledge of the matter who chose to remain anonymous said that Adani had agreed.

However, the company has rejected other demands from the PDB, including discounts and concessions worth millions of dollars to Bangladesh, the source said. The PDB had previously written to Adani seeking tax benefits worth millions of dollars and the resumption of a discount programme.

A virtual meeting between the sides was held on Tuesday and discussions are likely to continue, they said.

"They don't want to give up on anything, even $1 million," said one of the sources, referring to Adani Power. "We have not got any concessions. We want a mutual understanding, they are invoking the power purchase agreement."

PDB Chairman Md Rezaul Karim had told Reuters earlier in the week that there were no major outstanding issues with Adani and that full power supply would be restored as he attempted to step up payments beyond $85 million in a month.

Following a Reuters story on Tuesday, Adani Power said in a statement that "dispatch of power by a power generator is dependent on the procurers' requirements, which keep changing".

In December, an Adani source said that the PDB owed the company about $900 million, while Karim said the amount was only about $650 million.

The pricing dispute revolves around how power tariffs are calculated, Reuters said.