“Gain is for Gautam Adani and loss for Bangladesh: that is how the electricity purchase deal with the Indian business tycoon may turn out to be.Now at the centre of a scandal over stock market manipulation and fraud that, within a few weeks, contributed to an epic fall from the position of Asia’s richest person, Adani has literally taken Bangladesh for a fortune-ride through the controversial deal. Though officially still kept under tight wraps, the agreement has lately been published by a news portal and a number of whistleblowers in public interest.“This appears to be the most expensive, lopsided contract to replenish the pockets of the ex-richest man in Asia, at the expense of the people in Bangladesh,” Tim Buckley, a Sydney-based energy expert with 30 years of expertise in the field, told The Daily Star over the phone recently.Knowingly or unknowingly, Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) rushed to sign a deal that only allows Adani Power to mint money at every single phase, from coal purchase to electricity export. The document, in essence, lays bare how Bangladesh is forced to stay in the agreement even if Adani breaches the contract, according to the experts who analysed a copy of the deal obtained by The Daily Star.For the next 25 years, Bangladesh will partially bear what was initially thought to be Adani Power’s tax burden even though the Indian conglomerate got a tax exemption based on the export deal it struck with Bangladesh.”
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