Bangladesh has appointed a UK law firm to represent BPDB in mediation against Adani Power over coal pricing, while an arbitration tribunal ordered Niko Resources to pay $42 million.
Bangladesh has appointed a UK-based law chambers to represent the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) in mediation proceedings against Adani Power Limited at the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), escalating a long-running dispute over coal pricing and electricity tariffs.
BPDB Chairman Md Rezaul Karim confirmed that the nominees’ names have already been submitted to SIAC on behalf of the state-owned utility.
Power Division officials said the appointed firm is 3 Verulam Building, a London-based law chambers headed by King’s Counsel Farhaz Khan. He has been advising the government’s National Review Committee, which recently reviewed major power sector agreements signed during the tenure of the ousted Awami League government.
To support the King’s Counsel, BPDB has appointed two local experts, one from the power sector and another from the legal field, to strengthen Bangladesh’s technical and legal arguments in the mediation process.
Power Division sources said the appointees are Rezwan Khan, chairman of Power Grid Bangladesh, and barrister Ehsan Abdullah Siddiq, a partner at The Law Counsel. The appointments are aimed at combining sectoral expertise with international arbitration experience.
Barrister Siddiq said he has not yet received a formal appointment letter although he acknowledged providing legal opinions during the review of the Adani agreement. Rezwan Khan said he was verbally informed of his appointment as a technical expert and had earlier been contacted by the power and energy adviser for consent to participate in mediation-level proceedings.
BPDB and Adani Power signed a 25-year power purchase agreement in November 2017 to import 1,496 megawatts of electricity from Adani’s 1,600MW coal-fired plant in Jharkhand, India. The first 800MW unit began commercial operations in April 2023.
Adani Power initiated arbitration proceedings last year, claiming around $485 million in unpaid dues linked to the coal tariff under the agreement. Under the contract, mediation is a mandatory but non-binding step before full arbitration.
Bangladesh has argued that Adani is charging an excessively high coal price, sharply increasing electricity generation costs. After the political transition following the July uprising and the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led government, BPDB renewed efforts to renegotiate the deal.
Several rounds of online discussions failed to produce a breakthrough, prompting Adani to again request BPDB to appoint a mediator. BPDB responded that mediation would proceed only after the National Review Committee completed its assessment.
When the committee’s final report was released on 25 January, its members urged swift action, warning that delays could weaken Bangladesh’s legal position. The committee estimated that Bangladesh is paying an additional $400 million to $500 million every year due to flaws in the coal pricing formula and tax provisions.
Power and Energy Adviser Fouzul Kabir Khan said the committee had gathered direct and circumstantial evidence of bribery involving Bangladeshi officials at the time the agreement was signed. According to committee members, investigators documented suspicious transactions through foreign bank accounts, including records of account numbers, dates, times and beneficiaries.
The evidence was independently reviewed and validated by a team of expert lawyers led by a UK-based King’s Counsel. The legal team concluded that Bangladesh has sufficient grounds to file a fraud case against Adani Power over alleged bribery and corrupt practices.
In a separate development, an international arbitration tribunal has ordered Canadian energy company Niko Resources to pay $42 million in compensation to Bangladesh over the 2005 gas field blowouts in Chhatak.
Petrobangla Chairman Rezanur Rahman said the verdict of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) was conveyed to the government through official channels a few days ago.
Bangladesh had sought nearly $1 billion in damages, including $118 million for Bapex and $896 million for the government, citing loss of life, environmental destruction and economic losses caused by the blowouts at the Tengratila gas field.
While the awarded amount is far lower than the claim, Petrobangla officials said the full verdict has yet to be received. Once obtained, it will be sent to the Attorney General’s Office for legal opinion before the government decides its next steps.
In 2003, Niko Resources (Bangladesh) Ltd signed a joint venture with Bapex to develop gas fields in Feni and Chhatak. In 2005, faulty drilling operations led to two major blowouts at Tengratila, causing severe environmental damage and rendering the gas field unusable.
The Adani and Niko cases together underline Bangladesh’s renewed push to reassess controversial energy agreements and pursue accountability through international legal forums as it seeks to reform its power and energy sector.
