Netra News is publishing a copy of the 163-page power purchase agreement (PPA) between Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and Adani Power (Jharkhand), dated November 5th 2017, relating to the 1496 megawatt coal fired power generation facility in the district of Godda in India.The contract, which was signed following a visit to Bangladesh by the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, in June 2015, has been subject to significant criticism in recent months. Quoting an energy analyst, a Washington Post article claimed that the agreement would mean that “Bangladesh would buy Adani’s electricity at more than five times the market price of bulk electricity in the country” and that “even with coal prices returning to prewar levels […] Adani’s power would cost Bangladesh 33 percent more per kilowatt-hour than the publicly disclosed cost of running Bangladesh’s domestic coal-fired plant.”
At the beginning of February, Bangladesh media reported that BPDB was seeking to the revise agreement, though an Adani group spokesperson told an Indian newspaper thatBPDB has not sought a revision to the agreement, but only “temporary relief” on the cost of coal. Transparency International Bangladesh has called for the Bangladesh government to reconsider, and if necessary, cancel the PPA.
