Once upon a time, in the electrifying land of Bangladesh, there was a deal so powerful that it lit up imaginations across borders. The mighty Adani Group, lords of coal-powered plants, had struck a deal with Bangladesh in 2015 during Prime Minister Modi’s magical visit to Dhaka. The agreement, with all the grandeur of a royal decree, promised a 25-year bounty of electricity flowing from the vast coal reserves of Jharkhand straight into Bangladesh’s power-hungry grid.
Fast forward to 2024, and this energy fairy tale has hit a snag. Not the kind of snag where your light bulb flickers, but the kind where your power bill gives you a heart attack. Bangladesh, our plucky protagonist, finds itself buried under a mountain of unpaid energy bills—nearly $500 million owed to India, and with Adani Group staring down an even higher figure of $800 million. The total power-related debt for the nation? A modest $3.7 billion. Just a casual sum for a developing nation, right?
As Bangladesh’s new interim government, led by the illustrious Muhammad Younus, takes the stage, they’re handed not a bouquet of flowers, but an electric shock. The unpaid bill is now a ticking time bomb. Younis, whose name now seems to mean “he who inherits impossible situations,” is reportedly rethinking these energy deals. Perhaps he’s wondering why anyone thought 25 years of coal-powered happiness was a good idea in a world shifting to renewables.
But how did we get here, you ask? Well, apparently no one told Bangladesh that coal doesn’t just burn in power plants—it also burns through wallets. With global energy prices sky-high and domestic demand soaring, Bangladesh’s power-buying habits became an expensive affair, one where the meter was always running, but the payments… not so much.
Imagine Adani Group as the DJ at a never-ending party. They’ve been blasting electricity into Bangladesh, keeping the lights on, but instead of applause and payments, they’re getting ghosted. The music keeps playing, but no one’s paying the DJ. Meanwhile, Bangladesh, perhaps over-enthusiastically, danced its way into a power-related debt crisis. Now, when the bill’s due, the crowd is starting to panic, and the DJ is looking for his money.
Reports from the Financial Times suggest that Bangladesh is in a tight spot. They’re not just worried about keeping the lights on; they’re worried about whether they can afford the electric bill at all. And so, Bangladesh has started to “rethink” its energy deals. Translation: “Can we break up with Adani and still keep the power flowing?”
What is Bangladesh to do? As the unpaid bills stack higher than a coal pile, rumors swirl that the interim government is planning drastic measures. Perhaps they’ll dim the lights—literally. Could we see Dhaka’s famous skyline lose some of its sparkle? Or maybe they’ll install candles in every government office, an eco-friendly (and budget-friendly) solution that could make Bangladesh a pioneer in low-tech energy management.
But what about Adani, you ask? The Indian conglomerate that has fueled this power-driven rollercoaster is still waiting to get paid. They’ve become the energy loan sharks of the region, and as much as they love supplying electricity, they love being paid for it even more.
As the drama unfolds, one thing is clear: Bangladesh is navigating an energy crisis of epic proportions, one that may redefine how it approaches power, both literally and politically. Perhaps this debacle will be a wake-up call, leading to a future of energy independence, where solar panels outshine coal plants and unpaid bills are a thing of the past. Or, more likely, it’ll just mean another round of awkward phone calls to Adani, with Bangladesh asking for “just a little more time.”
For now, we can only watch as Muhammad Younus and his interim government juggle the hot potato of energy debt, trying to avoid a blackout—both in their finances and their future. I am reminded of the Bruce Springsteen song ‘Dancing in the Dark’. Muhammad Younus will lead the people of Bangladesh to be ‘Dancing in the Dark’ soon.
