Special Correspondent
Bangladesh is facing a deepening electricity crisis, with prolonged power cuts disrupting households and industries as supplies from Adani Power’s plant in India fall sharply below contractual levels.
The Power Development Board (PDB) says the Indian conglomerate has supplied electricity at roughly half its available capacity for much of August, despite repeated requests to restore full deliveries. On Sunday, output from Adani’s 1,600MW Godda coal-fired plant in Jharkhand was reported at about 915MW, compared with more than 1,400MW supplied to Bangladesh on average over the previous two and a half years.
The reduction has come as Bangladesh struggles with exceptionally high demand during a period of severe heat. Officials say the national electricity deficit has contributed to power cuts lasting as long as eight to 10 hours in some areas, affecting households as well as factories.
The PDB has sent three letters to Adani this month demanding that the company honour its contractual commitment. According to officials, Adani has attributed the reduced generation to wet coal and damage to railway infrastructure used to transport coal. The company has repeatedly promised that full supplies would resume within days, but output has subsequently fallen again.
The dispute has raised broader questions about Bangladesh’s dependence on a power plant located outside its territory. Godda is connected to Bangladesh through a dedicated 400kV transmission line entering the country through the Rahonpur border in Chapainawabganj before joining the national grid through the Bogura substation.
Bangladesh has limited ability to independently verify Adani’s explanations, officials say. PDB representatives have not been able to inspect the plant or verify the company’s coal procurement and stock levels in India.
The PDB says there is an ongoing dispute with Adani over coal pricing, which has been referred to mediation. But officials insist Bangladesh has no outstanding electricity-payment arrears to the company. More than $90m was paid to Adani last month, according to the board.
The agreement was approved during the previous Awami League government and has become politically contentious. A committee formed during the interim administration reportedly found significant irregularities in the contract and warned that Bangladesh could face losses exceeding $6bn over its 25-year duration.
Officials have also questioned whether deteriorating relations between Dhaka and New Delhi could have any connection with the recent reduction in power supplies. No direct link has been established, however, and officials acknowledge that the issue may be entirely operational.
The wider power crisis is compounding the problem. At midday on Sunday, load-shedding reportedly reached 3,590MW, while national demand exceeded 16,000MW against available supply of about 13,000MW.
Several domestic coal-fired plants are also operating below capacity. Payra was producing about 565MW against more than 1,200MW expected, while Rampal was generating around 1,150MW of its 1,320MW capacity. Other plants, including RNPL, SS Power and Matarbari, have been affected by mechanical failures or scheduled maintenance.
The electricity shortage is being aggravated by a parallel gas crisis. Reduced gas supplies have disrupted power generation, deprived residential consumers of cooking gas and restricted CNG availability. Dyeing and knitting factories have reportedly been forced to halt production for much of the day.
The government has meanwhile released Tk3,000 crore to purchase fuel for power plants, underscoring the scale of the emergency.
For Bangladesh, the immediate challenge is not simply securing more electricity. It is establishing whether the country’s dependence on a foreign-owned power plant has left it with too little leverage when that supply falters.
