A coal-fired power plant operated by India’s Adani Power has been charging Bangladesh significantly more than market rates for electricity and passing on Indian corporate taxes to the country, according to a report by a government-appointed committee in Bangladesh reviewed by Reuters.
The National Review Committee (NRC), in a report dated January 20 that has not yet been made public, said electricity supplied from Adani Power’s Godda plant in India’s Jharkhand state was priced at a 39.7% premium compared with its nearest private-sector competitor. The committee said the plant also recorded the steepest cost escalation among Bangladesh’s electricity import arrangements from India.
Reuters reviewed the report, which said the price divergence was the result of “specific contractual choices” and identified what it described as “serious anomalies in the procedures through which the contract was awarded.” The NRC characterised the Adani deal as the most significant statistical outlier in Bangladesh’s cross-border electricity procurement portfolio.
According to the committee, the Adani plant supplies more than 10% of Bangladesh’s electricity but relies on “excessively priced” coal and includes Indian corporate taxes in the tariff charged to Bangladesh. The NRC said this practice deviates from standard international norms, under which independent power producers typically bear their own corporate taxes in their home jurisdictions.
“The price being paid is roughly 50% higher than what it should be,” the NRC said in the report, adding that the inclusion of Indian corporate tax components in the tariff placed an additional and unusual burden on Bangladesh’s power sector finances.
In response, Adani Power said it could not comment on the review because the committee had neither consulted the company nor shared a copy of the report. The company said it was continuing to supply electricity to Bangladesh despite large outstanding payment dues, noting that other generators had reduced or halted supplies under similar circumstances.
“We urge the Bangladesh government to liquidate our dues at the earliest as this is impacting our operations,” Adani Power said in a statement.
The NRC recommended that Bangladesh review its electricity import contracts to identify opportunities to renegotiate what it described as the most fiscally damaging provisions, as the country seeks to rein in energy costs and strengthen oversight of cross-border power agreements.
