Adani-Hindenburg concerns spread to neighbourhood

The Hindu: The recent turmoil surrounding stocks of Adani group has sparked concerns among India’s neighbours with regard to development projects in their region.  
As per local reports, a power project being implemented by the group in Bangladesh may potentially be delayed by another six months. 
According to United News of Bangladesh’s report, quoting government officials, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has sought a reduction in the price of coal being purchased from Adani’s Carmicheal Mines in Australia. At present, Adani Power is reported to be billing Bangladesh US$ 400 a tonne which is far higher than US$ 250 a tonne that BPDB pays to other thermal plants.

State officials quoted in local reports state that the project’s prime lenders, that include state-owned Power Finance Corporation (PFC) and Rural Electrification Corporation (REC) would then have to sign off on the delay. 

However, the External Affairs Ministry has made it clear that setbacks to the projects would not affect ties, emphasising, that the turmoil with respect to Adani group stocks was “not a foreign policy issue”. “If a certain project is not working for financial or economic reasons, I don’t think that it a reflection on the relationship,” spokesperson at the Ministry, Arindam Bagchi stated on Thursday. He was responding to questions about the thermal power project in Jharkhand’s Godda. The project was due to supply electricity to Bangladesh starting January 2022- deadline of which has been breached twice.

The project is one among the many in the neighbourhood and accompany Prime Minister Narendra Modi government’s ‘Neighbourhood First’ initiative. 
Highlighting the big-ticket announcements. Group chairman Gautami Adani has in the past met Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina (September 2022) and then Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. He had also met senior officials from Myanmar and even Indonesia.