India rules out involvement in Adani power deal with Bangladesh

India on Thursday said that the county has no involvement in an agreement between the Bangladesh government and Adani Power for importing electricity from the Indian conglomerate's plant in Jharkhand.

"I don't think we are involved in this," Indian external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, describing the matter as a deal between a sovereign government (Bangladesh) and an Indian company.

The spokesperson made it clear while responding to questions on the issue at a weekly media briefing, after UNB reports that the government is seeking revision of the power purchase agreement.

"We have been talking about our neighbours benefiting from the economic growth of India. We have tried to make it easier for connectivity, be it physical or energy or power transmission...This is part of our larger strategy of Neighbourhood First. Under that we would like to see greater economic interconnections, integration of projects, investments, but if a certain project is not working for financial or economic reasons, I don't think that's a reflection on the relationship," Arindam Bagchi said, reports Hindustan Times. 

Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), the government agency tasked with overseeing the development of the country's power sector, has sent a letter to the Adani Power Ltd seeking a revision to the power purchase agreement (PPA) for importing electricity from Adani power plant in Jharkhand, India, reports UNB.

The Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) signed a 25-year power purchase agreement (PPA) with Adani Power in Dhaka in November 2017 to supply 1,496 megawatts (MW) of electricity from a coal-based power plant at Godda in Jharkhand.