Questions over Adani power supply after PM skips India visit

The shutdown of an 800MW unit of Adani Power’s Godda plant in India has added fresh pressure to Bangladesh’s already strained power system, coming just after Dhaka announced that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would not attend the BRICS summit in New Delhi.

The timing of the disruption has raised questions, although there is no publicly available evidence to establish that the power supply problem was linked to Tarique’s decision not to visit India.

Adani Power’s 1,600MW Godda plant in Jharkhand has two 800MW units. One unit went offline following a technical fault reportedly involving the boiler, bringing the plant’s supply to Bangladesh down to below 750MW. The plant had supplied more than 1,400MW before the unit shutdown.

Officials said the affected unit would require cooling and repair before generation could resume. The restoration process could take several days, putting additional pressure on Bangladesh’s electricity supply during a period of high demand.

Tarique skips BRICS summit

The disruption came shortly after State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humayun Kobir announced that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman would not attend the BRICS summit scheduled for September 12-13 in New Delhi.

Dhaka said Tarique had been invited to the summit in his capacity as chair of BIMSTEC, rather than as Bangladesh’s prime minister. The government also indicated that a bilateral visit to India could take place later if a favourable environment and mutual respect were ensured.

The decision has attracted attention amid changing Bangladesh-India relations, particularly because the power disruption followed the announcement by only a short interval.

Supply problems already existed

The latest technical fault was not the first problem to affect Adani’s electricity supply to Bangladesh.

The Godda plant had already been generating below its full capacity due to disruptions in coal transportation in India. Railway congestion, loading restrictions and heavy rainfall had reportedly affected coal supplies to the plant, forcing it to reduce generation.

The latest unit shutdown therefore came when Bangladesh’s power system was already under considerable stress.

Bangladesh’s overall generation was reportedly around 13,000-14,000MW against demand of more than 16,000MW, with load shedding rising sharply during peak hours.

2017 deal under scrutiny

The Adani power deal has also come under renewed scrutiny over Bangladesh’s dependence on a major foreign power supplier.

The long-term power purchase agreement was signed in 2017 for electricity from the Godda plant. The latest disruption has revived questions over contractual safeguards, including provisions relating to fuel supply, plant maintenance, unexpected outages and compensation for failure to supply contracted electricity.

Energy experts have previously raised concerns over the terms and financial implications of the agreement, while the government faces pressure to ensure that disruptions at any single plant do not create a major impact on the national grid.

Political pressure or technical failure?

The sequence of events has prompted speculation over whether electricity could become part of the wider diplomatic equation between Dhaka and New Delhi.

However, experts caution that timing alone cannot establish a political connection. A technical failure at the plant and earlier coal-supply problems provide alternative explanations for the reduced generation.

The issue, therefore, requires scrutiny of the plant’s technical reports, generation data, coal-supply records and the terms of the power purchase agreement rather than political speculation alone.

For Bangladesh, the incident once again highlights the risks of heavy dependence on imported electricity and the need for sufficient domestic generation and backup capacity.