For all kinds of ingenuity, fraud and tricks to loot have been accused against Muhammad Aziz Khan, who is known as the power sector mafia. He has become the richest man in Singapore by sometimes threatening and sometimes holding the power division hostage.
There have also been allegations of subtle fraud in the no-electricity no payment system to evade public attention. Despite withdrawing the investment in the first contract, he again collected a huge amount of rent from the rental power plant during the extension of the term. In this way, information has been found that the same power plant has been sold several times. When there was intense criticism due to the extension of the power plant in several phases. Aziz Khan, who is close to Awami League, then adopted a new strategy of fraud.
It is said in the contract, no-electricity no payment means if you give electricity you will get rent if you don't. Old inefficient power plants are supposed to sit normally. But through the joint manipulation with Mahbubur Rahman, the former Chairman of the Power Development Board, the power plant of Summit has remained operational almost all the time. And since the electricity has been supplied, the capacity payment has to be multiplied by dollars. It has been reported that government power plants have been installed at times to facilitate the Summit Group.
Although the investment was in Bangladeshi currency, Aziz Khan took the bill in dollars. Even when Bangladesh is suffering from dollar crisis, a new dollar agreement was signed with the summit in 2022. According to a statistic of the Electricity Department, an additional payment of Tk. 2,163 crore has been made due to devaluation of Tk. in the last 3 years. A few companies have become money crocodiles by endangering the power sector of Bangladesh.
Sources from the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) said that the excess power generation capacity has become a burden. At that time, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) extended the term of power plants of Summit, Orion and United Confidence Group. Once proposals for renewal of contracts for 5 power plants were rejected due to lack of requirements, the contract was renewed completely illegally bypassing BERC.
Former member of BERC, Maqbool E-Elahi Chaudhury, told Barta24.com that some of these power plants had contracts of 3 and 5 years. The capital investment he had at the time of the first contract was paid. At the end of the term, when the price of the power plant becomes zero, how can the old contract be renewed? That is why it was cancelled.
In August 2022, a total of 6 power plants, including the old 4 of Summit, were extended. Among them were Summit Narayanganj Power Limited's Madanganj 102 MW furnace oil based power plant, Madhavadi 11 MW gas based power plant, Jashore 40 MW (furnace oil) power plant jointly owned by Summit and United Group, Goalpara 115 MW power plant. Despite the objections of the Energy Regulatory Commission itself, the contracts of the power plants were renewed.
Khulna Power Company Limited Unit-II jointly owned by Summit and United Group was listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange in 2009. Initially the agreement was made for 5 years. In that agreement, the company withdrew the investment along with the profit. Furnace oil-based Goalapara 115 MW power plant's contract was renewed several times. The last extension was on 22nd August 2022 for 2 years. Renewal conditions are No Electricity No Payment.
On July 27, it was seen that 48 megawatts of power was drawn from the summit power plant during the day peak and 60 megawatts during the evening peak. A similar precedent has been observed in case of Jashore 40 MW. While Summit Group's Jashore power plant generates power, state-run Northwest Power Generation Company's Madhumati 100 MW power plant is installed in the same zone.
At the same time the contract of Madanganj 102 power plant was also extended for 2 years. The Narayanganj zone government power plant was put into operation on July 27 to facilitate Summit Group. This picture was taken almost every day.
There is a list called Merit Order in BPDB parlance for which power plants will be commissioned first. The basis of this list is that the lowest cost power plant should be run first. Then, as the demand increases, the higher cost centers will be operated in a phased manner accordingly. First in this list is hydropower, followed by gas, coal, furnace oil respectively. As such, Summit Group's power plants should be the last. But to everyone's surprise, the Summit's power plants remain at the top for mysterious reasons. This is where Singapore's richest man, Aziz Khan, performed magic.
The VOMP (Variable Operation and Maintenance Price) cost strategy of the power plant shows a few paise less. And Aziz Khan left other power plants behind. So that it is easy to get the capacity charge. BPDB has been hit hard by this. Electricity has been taken from Summit by showing a few paisas less. Northwest's power plant would receive a capacity charge if it were sitting, and Summit would not. In this strategy of BPDB, both power plants have to pay capacity charges. In an order dated August 22, 2022, the term of 4 power plants of Summit Group and 1 power plant of Orion Group was extended.
An official of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) said on condition of anonymity that after the coming of the interim government those power plants have been closed, it is not running now! It's going well. Those power plants had many options, but BPDB was often forced to follow the above instructions.
Electricity generation statistics also said so. When the deadline was extended in 2022, only 40 percent of the electricity generation capacity was used that year. In FY 2022-23, the actual production average is only 10 thousand 97 MW against the production capacity of 24 thousand 911 MW, which is only 40.53 percent of the total production capacity. While 60 percent of power plants are sitting idle, Summit, Orion, United power plants have been renewed.
The reason for apprehension is that even if the power plant is sitting, the money has to be calculated from time to time for capacity payment. In the financial year 2021-22, capacity payment of Tk. 18 thousand 977 crore has to be paid. According to the data of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), the average production cost of electricity in the financial year 2019-20 was 2.13 taka, in the financial year 2020-21 it was 3.16 taka and in 2022 it was 8.5 taka, now the average production cost has exceeded 10 taka.
In the summary sent by the Power Division to the Prime Minister for the renewal of those 6 power plants, it is said that the period of some rental power plants is being extended on the basis of 'no electricity no payment' due to protection of system frequency, increase in reliability and relatively low tariff. In the meantime, 9 furnace oil-based power plants with a capacity of 757 MW and five gas-based power plants with a capacity of 558 MW have been extended.
Cab Energy Adviser Professor M Shamsul Alam told Barta24.com that those who said furnace oil-based power plants have been extended for frequency are showing the people the High Court, or they are idiots. In actuality, the deadline has been extended to give business to government-backed traders. The period of these has been extended earlier in the special law.
A business leader said that the summit group has taken the country's power sector to the brink. He built a mountain of money in Singapore by looting the country's money. The local company Summit became a Singaporean company overnight in a few years. Earlier I used to pay dollars in the country, now I am delivering dollars to Singapore. Aziz Khan has endangered Bangladesh's power sector in the process of getting rich. Aziz Khan, the richest man in Singapore, is considered by many to be the top fraud in Bangladesh. It is doubtful whether anyone has looted in such a novel way as they did.