Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood on Thursday told Parliament that the government is actively considering moving to international arbitration or revising the power purchase agreement signed with Indian Adani group through negotiations.
“The options of going to the international arbitration court over the agreement signed with Adani or revising the deal through discussions with Adani Power are under active consideration of the government,” he said.
The Minister said this while replying to a starred question from opposition bench lawmaker Shahjahan Chowdhury (Chattogram-15) during the question-and-answer session in the House.
Iqbal Hassan said the 2017 agreement signed with India’s Adani Power (Jharkhand) Limited was reviewed during the tenure of the interim government by a national committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge.
The committee that included power and energy experts, legal experts, economists and chartered accountants, took opinions from an international legal firm specialising in international contracts, he added.
“The national committee in its review report cited that the agreement with Adani Power had been signed by the previous Awami League government at an unusually high price compared to domestic and international market rates,” said the minister.
Based on the committee’s report, the government is now actively considering steps including international arbitration or renegotiation of the agreement, he added.
In reply to another question from opposition Jamaat lawmaker Mohammed Kamal Hossain (Dhaka-5), the minister said the country is currently facing a significant shortage of gas as domestic production continues to decline while supply, including imported LNG, remains insufficient compared to overall demand.
“As a result, gas distribution is being disrupted to some extent in all areas and there is currently no plan to provide new residential gas connections in the present or near future,” he said.
What the Minister says about fuel crisis:
Replying to a supplementary question from NCP lawmaker Abul Hasnat, popularly known as Hasnat Abdullah (Cumilla-4) regarding an alleged fuel crisis at fuel pumps, the minister said the required amount of fuel is being supplied supply to the fuel pumps but the problem is being created due to panic buying.
“We are supplying the required amount of fuel to each pump daily. However, following the Iran tensions, sales have surged suddenly. Previously, it took one to one-and-a-half days to sell the supplied fuel, but now it is being sold out within two hours,” he said.
He attributed the situation to panic buying, saying that although long queues are being seen, fuel supply continues regularly.
Earlier, Hasnat Abdullah claimed that despite the minister’s earlier statement denying any fuel shortage, many pumps are shutting down and people are not receiving expected services, citing long queues and disruptions in different areas including Sylhet.
Following the question-answer session, Water Resources Minister Shahid Uddin Annie raised an objection over the wording by the lawmaker in his supplementary question, saying it undermined the privilege of ministers.
In response, the Speaker ruled that the term “minister” is acceptable, but if used in plural form as “ministers,” the suffix would be expunged from the record of the parliament.