Dhaka: Commenting that Bangladesh will not be held hostage by any power generating company, Press Secretary to the Chief Advisor Shafiqul Alam said that the government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has left a lot of money arrear in paying Adani’s electricity price.
He told reporters at the Foreign Service Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka on Sunday (November 3).
A recent report by the Indian media outlet Times of India said that India’s Adani Group owes Bangladesh about 850 million dollars for electricity supply. The company has given an ultimatum to pay these arrears.
In response to a question on this matter, Shafiqul Alam said that the government of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has left a lot of money behind in paying Adani’s electricity price. However, Bangladesh will not be held hostage by any power generating company.
He said that it is true that India’s Adani Group receives money for importing electricity, but we have accelerated the pace of paying them. The previous Awami League government is mainly responsible for the previous arrears. They left a huge pile of defaults. We paid 9.7 million dollars to the Adani Group last month which is double that of August or the previous month. We have taken initiatives to make the payment faster.
Stating that the country's reserves are increasing, he further said, "We can make international payments without touching the reserves. The payment of 700 million dollars is pending. We can make that too in a short time. We will not be power hostage (fuel dependency) by anyone. We will be self-sufficient."
Regarding the allegations of 16 to 18 billion being laundered abroad annually during the Awami League government, he said, "A kind of competition for money laundering started during the fallen Awami League government. The government is working to bring back that money. A high-level committee has been formed to find out how much money has been laundered. Detailed information can be found in the report of that committee.