The Union Government has allowed Adani Power’s 2×800 MW ultra-supercritical thermal plant in Jharkhand’s Godda district to connect with the Indian electricity grid, a move that ends the company’s six-year exclusive export of power to Bangladesh. The clearance enables the Adani Group company to sell power to domestic distribution utilities amid ongoing payment delays from Dhaka.
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New grid link after regulatory clearance
According to Media Reports, the Union Power Ministry issued an order on 29th September granting Adani Power (Jharkhand) Limited, now Adani Power Limited the same powers as the country’s telegraph authority under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885. This allows the company to lay and maintain transmission lines across 56 villages in Godda and Poraiyahat tehsils for connecting its plant to the national grid through a “line-in-line-out” arrangement. The connection would permit Adani Power to branch out electricity supply from its existing export line to serve Indian domestic consumers via the Inter-State Transmission System managed by the Central Transmission Utility of India.
Policy shift follows Bangladesh payment delays
The development follows a series of amendments by the Power Ministry and the Central Electricity Authority to allow generators supplying neighbouring countries to also trade power domestically under specific circumstances. After a severe foreign exchange crisis in Bangladesh, Adani Power had halved its supply to the country in October 2024, citing unpaid dues exceeding $500 million. One of its two generating units in Godda was temporarily shut, reducing the plant’s output to about 42%. Following this, the interim Government in Dhaka led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus urged Adani Power to resume full supply even as it attempted to clear part of the backlog by paying around $85 million per month.
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A project with cross-border significance
The Adani Group’s contract with Bangladesh, signed in 2017 under Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s administration, committed the Godda plant to supply up to 10% of Bangladesh’s base load demand. The agreement, however, has faced political scrutiny in both countries. Opposition parties in India questioned whether the deal had received direct facilitation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government, while critics in Bangladesh called the tariff terms expensive.
Strategic importance for India’s power diplomacy
The Centre’s latest decision reflects a pragmatic recalibration of India’s cross-border electricity trade policy, allowing private generators flexibility amid regional uncertainties. For Adani Power, the move opens new commercial avenues within India’s growing electricity market while maintaining its export obligations to Bangladesh. For the Government, it underscores an evolving energy diplomacy that balances neighbourhood commitments with domestic grid resilience and energy security.
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