A government-commissioned review says Bangladesh’s long-term electricity contracts signed without competition are adding billions of dollars a year to power costs, squeezing households and threatening industrial competitiveness.
The National Review Committee said “overpricing is a deliberate outcome of contract design,” alleging “systematic collusion between politicians, bureaucrats and businesses.”
The report, titled “Bangladesh’s Power Generation: Trapped Costly Contracts: Governance Failures and the Mechanics of Rent Extraction,” highlighted an Adani Power import deal as a striking case of “rent extraction,” estimating Bangladesh pays about 50% above benchmark prices, or roughly 4 to 5 U.S. cents per kilowatt hour. Another review body urged scrapping the Adani agreement, saying Bangladesh pays an extra $400 million to $500 million annually.
Adani said it was not approached and supplies “competitively priced” power.
The five-member National Review Committee was led by former High Court judge Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury.
