According to the report of the British media Daily Mail, Bangladesh is making strong efforts to collect dollars. Bangladesh’s efforts to pay more than $1 billion owed to Indian power companies are being hampered by the dollar crisis. Bangladesh has struggled to pay its bills since the 2022 war in Ukraine due to expensive fuel and commodity imports, a crisis exacerbated by political unrest. But soon Bangladesh will pay 270 million dollars to India for electricity price.
Bangladesh is urgently seeking $5 billion in financial aid from international lenders to stabilize its dwindling foreign exchange reserves, and its central bank has raised key interest rates to control rising inflation, the report said. Last year, the country sought $4.7 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
An official of the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) told Reuters on Friday, “Efforts are underway to pay the arrears, but the current dollar crisis is complicating the process significantly.” About $800 million is owed to Adani Power out of over $1 billion due to India’s power companies.’
A PTC India spokesperson said his company has been supplying electricity since 2022 after establishing a business relationship with Bangladesh’s BPDB since 2013. A letter has also been issued to pay 270 million dollars for electricity arrears. They are in a precarious situation due to non-payment of dues. Bangladesh, which imports 20 percent of its electricity from India, has not paid for electricity for the past 8 to 9 months. In 2018, another Indian company, SEIL, signed a deal to supply electricity to Bangladesh for a period of 15 years. The company said in a statement, “Power supply continues in Bangladesh, we are hopeful that the relevant authorities will expedite the payment of dues while maintaining the terms of the contract. SEIL and PTC India have bank guarantees of Rs 34.1 million and Rs 30.7 million respectively in respect of power contracts with Bangladesh. If Bangladesh does not pay these amounts quickly, they can cash the bank guarantees.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Rupali Bank and BPDB are working to collect dollars from the country’s central bank to pay electricity bills to Indian companies. It is said that the payment of 270 million dollars to Indian companies will be possible soon.