Dhaka, Nov 24 (PTI) A review committee formed by the caretaker government of Bangladesh on Sunday recommended hiring an investigative agency to look into the power deals signed by deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s regime with different groups of business, including one with the Indian group Adani.

“The National Review Committee of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources has recommended the appointment of a reputable legal and investigative agency to review the major power generation agreements signed under the regime autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina from 2009 to 2024,” said an official statement. .

The other six deals include one with a Chinese company that built a 1,320 MW coal-fired power plant, while the others are with Bangladeshi business groups known to be close to the former regime.

According to the statement, the committee has gathered “enormous evidence” justifying that the agreements be “abandoned or reconsidered” in accordance with international arbitration laws and procedures. He said the committee needs more time to further analyze other solicited and unsolicited contracts.

“In doing so, we recommend the immediate appointment of one or more high-level international legal and investigative agencies to assist the committee,” the statement said citing a letter from the committee, headed by the retired High Court judge , Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury.

The Indian Ministry of External Affairs had earlier said that cooperation in the power and energy sector has become one of the crucial pillars of India-Bangladesh relations.

However, the Adani Group recently sent a letter to the Bangladesh government over its $800 million unpaid electricity bill, while the state-run Bangladesh Energy Development Board said that he had already paid $150 million despite the dollar crisis and expected to pay in full. Rising.

Adani’s Godda thermal power plant was established exclusively to supply electricity to Bangladesh, but India recently changed a law allowing the Indian company to sell Godda electricity domestically, sparking speculation that it could for Bangladesh to get dedicated power supply from the plant.

The caretaker government had earlier formed a committee to review contracts entered into under the Rapid Improvement in Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provisions) Act, 2010 (amended in 2021).

The committee was tasked with investigating any allegations of corruption linked to the country’s electricity and energy production and supply agencies. PTI AR GSP GSP

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