Bangladesh Aims to Renegotiate Power Deal with Adani

Padma Bank, facing severe financial difficulties, has requested Tk 1,300 crore in liquidity support from Bangladesh Bank to repay depositors. The bank's CEO, Kazi Md Talha, stated that the application for support was made last week, but no response has been received yet.

The Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase (ACCGP) has approved the procurement of two cargos of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and 120,000 tonnes of fertilizer to meet rising demand in Bangladesh. Each LNG cargo, approximately 3.36 million mmBtu, will be sourced from M/S Total Energies Gas and Power Limited, Switzerland.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is investigating Salman F Rahman, former adviser to the PM, and Shah Alam Sarwar, former MD of IFIC Bank, for their involvement in a loan scam totaling Tk 19.07 billion. Allegations include abuse of power, irregularities, and loan disbursements without proper competition, with funds misused for five companies.

Bangladesh's interim government accuses Adani Power of breaching a 2017 power deal by withholding tax benefits from its Godda plant, which supplies energy to Bangladesh at significantly higher costs than similar deals.

The Payra Thermal Power Plant in Patuakhali has temporarily halted operations for maintenance and to facilitate the test commissioning of a nearby $2.5 billion coal-fired power plant by RPCL-Norinco International Power Limited (RNPL). The new 1,320 MW plant, located two kilometers away, will undergo testing of its transmission lines, requiring a shutdown of the Payra-Gopalganj line for up to 75 days.