Following Kenya’s cancellation of its multimillion-dollar energy arrangements with the company, Bangladesh is investigating bilateral purchase agreements made under former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with various commercial conglomerates, including Adani Group.
According to media sources, a review committee within the Bangladeshi power ministry is looking into the transactions.
The interim administration, under the leadership of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus, established a committee to review power purchase agreements made in compliance with the Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provisions) Act, 2010 (Amended 2021).
Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus’s office released a statement suggesting that the National Review Committee on the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources should hire a reputable legal and investigative organization to examine the significant power production contracts signed between 2009 and 2024 under Sheikh Hasina’s government.
Seven significant energy and power projects, including the Adani (Godda) BIFPCL 1234.4 MW coal-fired plant, are under investigation. The remaining six agreements are with Bangladeshi corporate organizations perceived as close to Hasina’s government; one of them is with a Chinese company that constructed a 1320 MW coal-fired power plant.
The statement claims that the review committee has accumulated “enormous proof” that justifies the agreements’ cancellation or reexamination in conformity with international arbitration laws and protocols.
According to the statement, the committee also needs further time to examine additional “solicited and unsolicited contracts.” The statement cited a letter from the committee, under the leadership of retired High Court judge Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, requesting the immediate appointment of one or more top-level international legal and investigative bodies to support the group.
The Adani Group constructed the Godda thermal plant in Jharkhand specifically to provide electricity to Bangladesh. However, a recent legislative reform in India permits the corporation to sell power in the country’s domestic market.
Kenya cancelled multimillion-dollar energy and airport expansion agreements with billionaire businessman Gautam Adani when the United States indicted the company.
President William Ruto stated in a State of the Nation speech that fresh data from our partner countries and investigative agencies informed the decision. Kenya cancelled multimillion-dollar energy and airport expansion agreements with billionaire businessman Gautam Adani when the United States indicted the company.
President William Ruto decided this in a State of the Nation speech, citing fresh data from our partner countries and investigative agencies. Ruto also cancelled a 30-year, $736-million public-private partnership agreement that the energy ministry had inked with the Adani Group last month to build power transmission lines.
According to Ruto, the Ministry of Transportation and the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum have instructed the agencies to immediately halt the current procurement.
In exchange for operating the airport for 30 years, the Adani Group was in the process of finalizing an agreement to modernize Nairobi’s main airport and build an additional runway and terminal.
In Kenya, the project drew criticism and led to anti-Adani demonstrations. Because they believed it would result in job losses and worse working conditions, airport employees went on strike. The US court accused Adani and others on Wednesday of deceiving investors into acquiring Adani Green Energy and bribing Indian officials to secure a large solar energy project.
The nine members, including the two Adanis, allegedly consented to bribe Indian government officials with roughly USD 265 million in order to obtain contracts. On Wednesday, the US Securities and Exchange Commission declared that Adani and two other defendants had also broken the anti-fraud provisions of US securities laws.
Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition, demanded that Adani be arrested immediately and claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was “protecting” him after US prosecutors indicted Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani on Thursday for allegedly offering Rs 2,029 crore in bribes to Indian government officials.
In response, the ruling BJP charged that the Congress was targeting the Indian market and attempting to cause it to collapse in order to harm the country’s economy. According to the statement, the “matter pertains to the time between July 2021 and February 2022” when “governments of the Congress or their allies were in power in Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Odisha.”
