Adani Godda power station
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Adani Godda power station is an operating power station of at least 1600-megawatts (MW) in Motia, Godda, Jharkhand, India. It is also known as Paraspani power station.
Location
Table 1: Project-level location details
| Plant name | Location | Coordinates (WGS 84) |
|---|---|---|
| Adani Godda power station | Motia, Godda, Godda, Jharkhand, India | 24.814107, 87.135465 (exact) |
Unit-level coordinates (WGS 84):
- Unit 1, Unit 2: 24.814107, 87.135465
Project Details
Table 2: Unit-level details
| Unit name | Status | Fuel(s) | Capacity (MW) | Technology | Start year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Operating | coal: unknown | 800 | ultra-supercritical | 2023 |
| Unit 2 | Operating | coal: unknown | 800 | ultra-supercritical | 2023 |
Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details
| Unit name | Owner | Parent |
|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | Adani Power Ltd [100%] | Adani Power Ltd [100.0%] |
| Unit 2 | Adani Power Ltd [100%] | Adani Power Ltd [100.0%] |
Project-level coal details
- Coal source(s): imported
Ownership Tree
This ownership tree is part of the Global Energy Ownership Tracker, a project of Global Energy Monitor.
Background
In February 2016 Adani Power applied for a terms of reference to build a 2 x 800 MW coal-fired power station in Godda district.[1]
On August 11, 2016, Adani Power signed an MoU with Bangladesh Power Development Board to set up a 2x800 MW thermal power plant on build-own-operate (BOO) basis in India. Adani will export the entire power generated from the power project to Bangladesh.[2]
The terms of reference was granted in July 2016. An EIA was submitted in April 2017. The plant would be ultra-supercritical.[2]
Environmental clearance was granted on August 31, 2017.[3]
According to locals in December 2018, Adani has begun uprooting trees and burial sites for the plant, and have been protected by the police. Locals have protested and Adani has retreated for now. Many locals said they have refused to accept monetary compensation for the land, on the grounds that they never agreed to give their land to the Adani Group.[4]
According to IEEFA, the tariffs quoted by the Bangladesh Power Development Board for power from the plant are not competitive, because Adani would run the facility with imported coal from Adani’s Australian Carmichael Coal Project, via the port of Dhamra, Odisha (owned by Adani Ports) some 700 kilometres away from the power plant by rail. They suggest the real reason for the plant is to prop up the prospects of Adani's proposed Carmichael megamine in Queensland through a favorable PPA for Adani.[5] In what is being seen increasingly as a three government (Australia, Bangladesh and India) subsidy operation to secure profits for Adani's Carmichael mine and Godda coal plant operations, IEEFA estimates that Bangladesh will pay the equivalent of about 6 rupees (8 U.S. cents) per kilowatt hour for Godda's output, while the price of buying power from India on the open market would be around 3 rupees.[6]
According to Scroll.in, on February 25, 2019, the Modi government cleared the way for the plant to become the first standalone power project in India to get the status and benefits of a Special Economic Zone, giving the project access to a host of duty-waivers, tax exemptions, and faster clearances. In addition, the amended guidelines mandate that all electricity generated in the SEZ be exported, meaning Jharkhand could lose its share of local electricity from the project. To enable SEZ status for the Adani project, the government had to amend 2016 guidelines that prohibited the establishment of a standalone power project inside an SEZ.[7]
In September 2019 it was reported that work on the project had begun, carried out by Chinese company SEPCO3. The coal plant was planned to be operational starting in 2022. According to NewsClick, "thousands have lost their lands [for the coal plant] despite rallying against the administration consistently year after year". The displaced "includes forceful acquisition of 50 acres of 40 families against their wishes."[8]
Opposition continues against the project. Minister and senior Congress leader Alamgir Alam said his party would insist that the government take a relook at the project: “Land was acquired without holding a meeting of the gram sabha. According to the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, farmers must be given four times the actual market price of land. But the BJP government deliberately ignored the provisions."[9]
In June 2021, the project was delayed and reportedly scheduled to be ready by the end of 2022.[10]
However, in October 2021, an Adani Power official said: “The COVID-19 has impacted and delayed the schedule of implementation and commissioning of 1,600-MW ultra-supercritical coal-based thermal power project in the state of Jharkhand. Company officials are working day and night to complete this.” The plant was likely to be inaugurated by March 2022 (Q1).[11]
In July 2022, it was reported that Adani's deadline had shifted to December 2022. However, the work required to complete all the interlocking elements of the colossal power plant was likely to take a year and a half. One insider also believed it would take "at least another five years for the plant to produce the full 1600 MW."[12]
The first unit was not listed in CEA's installed capacity report for December 2022, and was not considered operational in December 2022 for purposes of the Global Coal Plant Tracker.
In March 2023, Unit 1 was officially commissioned and electricity supply to Bangladesh began.[13] By June 2023, the full plant was operational.[14]
According to reporting from August 2024, India’s Ministry of Power agreed to relax the 2018 rules on power exports to Bangladesh, and the Adani Godda power station would be allowed to sell electricity into the Indian market.[15] This rule-change reportedly prompted outrage from critics who said that India’s government was “bailing out” Gautam Adani, whose company could face large financial losses following political turmoil in Bangladesh.[16]
In March 2025, the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC) recommended granting an amendment to the power station’s Environmental Clearance (EC). Adani had applied for the EC amendment as the company sought to install a cement grinding unit to comply with a fly ash utilization policy.[17]
Controversy over Power Purchase Agreement
In December 2022, a leaked copy of the power purchase agreement signed by Bangladesh revealed that the country would have to pay Adani about US$450 million per year in capacity and maintenance charges even if it doesn’t need the power, in addition to shipping and transmission costs. An energy analyst estimated that the energy will cost Bangladesh five times the cost of a solar project.[18]
In January 2023, Bangladesh’s Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources stated that electricity from the plant would cost two cents more per kWh than was estimated the month prior. It was also reported that the date for starting commercial operations had been set as December 16, 2022. However, reporting referenced that based on a site visit, the first unit was still only producing around 250 MW during a test run. Nasrul Hamid said: "By mid-March, we will hopefully get around 750MW from the power plant."[19]
In February 2023, experts analyzed the "lopsided" agreement signed by Adani and the Bangladesh Power Development Board. One key finding was that Bangladesh must remain in the agreement even if Adani breached the contract. Additionally, Adani received a tax exemption on the deal and simultaneously planned to charge Bangladesh a tariff for the exempt taxes, essentially allowing the conglomerate to double dip on tax dollars and save well over $1 billion over the 25-year contract.[20]
As of September 2024, Bangladesh’s interim government was planning to review the power purchase contract between the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and the Adani Group. The Adani Group claimed that the BPDB owed the company US$800 million for power purchases.[21]
In early November 2024, Adani Power shut down a unit at the Godda power station, halving the electricity supply to Bangladesh in response to an alleged $850 million in unpaid bills.[22] Bangladesh’s Ministry of Power had opened a line of credit worth US$170 million in an effort to avert additional power cuts from the plant.[23]
As of December 2024, Bangladesh was seeking to significantly reduce electricity prices from the Adani Godda plant under its power purchase agreement (PPA), unless the contract is voided by a court. A court-ordered investigation into the 25-year PPA was expected to be completed by the end of February 2025. A government power and energy advisor reportedly said that contracts found to include “anomalies” should be renegotiated while those found to have involved “corruption and bribery” should be cancelled.[24] According to reporting from February 2025, Bangladesh’s Power Development Board (BPDB) had verbally requested that Adani lower the coal price used to calculate the power station’s electricity cost. In turn, Adani reportedly asked for a formal written proposal from the BPDB before both parties could discuss the price.[25]
In March 2025, a committee appointed by the High Court of Bangladesh recommended that the BPDB renegotiate the PPA with Adani Power, finding that the PPA included “one-sided” provisions such as tax exemption and coal pricing that favored Adani. The committee suggested that if Adani refused to renegotiate key clauses of the agreement, the government should pursue legal action in the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).[26] As of March 2025, the BPDB was disputing the claim that Adani Power was owed US$771 million as of the end of December 2024. The BPDB said that the amount owed at the end of 2024 was US$630 million and that Adani’s coal pricing methodology was flawed, resulting in a US$141 million overestimate.[27]
Later in March 2025, Adani Power resumed supplying electricity to Bangladesh from both units at the Godda power station after the country’s interim government reportedly began clearing unpaid dues.[28]
According to reporting from April 2025, an analysis by the BPDB revealed that fuel costs per kilowatt hour (kWh) of electricity generated from the Adani Godda plant were 8.01 taka/kWh (US$0.066/kWh), the second highest in Bangladesh after the Barapukuria power station.[29]
Coal source
The plant will be fuelled by imported coal which the company plans to procure under long term firm agreement from countries like Indonesia, South Africa and Australia. The imported coal will be received at Dhamra Port in Odisha and be transported to the project site by rail. The annual coal requirement is estimated to be about 7-9 MTPA.[2]
As of December 2024, Adani Power was reportedly lobbying the Indian government to grant a customs duty exemption on coal imported for the Godda plant. Following the Ministry of Power’s decision to allow the Godda plant to sell power on the domestic market, Adani was seeking the customs duty exemption to make the plant competitive with domestic utilities.[30]
Opposition
Locals report being assaulted and harassed to give over their land for the power project. According to Newslaundry, the violence was barely covered in the media: "A few local editions of language media publications carried small reports on the violence. One local journalist Nagmani told Newslaundry, 'I had footage of police lathi-charge in Motia but SDPO Abhishek Kumar forced me to delete it.'”[31]
A legal case filed at the High Court of Jharkhand by local villagers iwasscheduled to be heard in early August 2020. The claimants accuse Adani and its agents of using "coercion, fraud [and] undue influence" to illegally exclude thousands of people affected by the power plant development from a required social impact assessment. The court case also challenges the forced takeover of land for the development by the State Government on behalf of Adani. Under Indian law, a government can only acquire land for a private company if the project is for "public purpose". The claimants believe that the project fails to meet the definition of "public purpose" under the law. The state of Jharkhand denies all the allegations being put by the claimants and is contesting the court action. The project is also the subject of a separate environmental challenge to be heard by India's National Green Tribunal.[32]
Financing
- Source of financing: 2019: 80% debt financing from Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation, 20% equity financing from Adani Power[33]
Financial close for the project had been due to be concluded by November 2018, but by March 2019 had not yet been achieved. Adani Power was reported to be courting both international and domestic lenders for the financing of the project, with estimated costs of US$1.94 billion.[34] In September 2019, financial close was confirmed: Power Finance Corporation and Rural Electrification Corporation, both state-controlled financial institutions, are providing equal tranches of a US$1.4 billion loan and the promoter Adani Power is providing US$203 million in equity.[33]
Articles and Resources
References
- ↑ Form 1, India MoEF, February 4, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 EIA, Adani Power, April 2017
- ↑ Environmental clearance, India MoEF, August 31, 2017
- ↑ "Taking Over Fertile Land For Adani Group From Protesting Farmers, Jharkhand Government Manipulates New Law Meant To Protect Them," India Spend, December 1, 2018
- ↑ "Adani Godda Power Project Too Expensive, Too Late, and Too Risky for Bangladesh," IEEFA, April 2018
- ↑ Clyde Russell, "COLUMN-Adani claims Carmichael coal win, but it's a pyrrhic victory built on subsidies: Russell," Reuters, July 13, 2020
- ↑ "In final days of Modi government, Adani project in Jharkhand becomes India's first power sector SEZ," Scroll.in, March 25, 2019
- ↑ "Jharkhand: Construction Begins in Adani's Godda Plant, Villagers Dejected". NewsClick. 2019-09-07. Retrieved 2020-01-03.
- ↑ "Adani project on less-sure ground". The Telegraph. January 3, 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "1,600-MW Jharkhand project delayed amid Covid-19 lockdown: Adani Power," Business Standard, June 1, 2020
- ↑ "Adani Godda ultra-supercritical power project delayed by COVID-19 pandemic, likely to be operational by March 2022," The Free Press Journal, October 23, 2021
- ↑ "Delays to hit Adani’s Godda power station for another year," Adani Watch, July 6, 2022
- ↑ "Adani power chapter begins in Bangladesh," TBS News, March 9, 2023
- ↑ "Back Adani’s Godda plant for power supply to Bangladesh becomes fully operational," Live Mint, June 27, 2023
- ↑ “Adani now allowed to sell Bangladesh-bound power in India,” Reuters, August 13, 2024
- ↑ “Adani’s Godda coal-power plant and Bangladesh: rule change on power exports benefits Modi’s ‘crony’,” Adani Watch, August 23, 2024
- ↑ “Minutes of…22nd Meeting of the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) (Thermal Projects),” India Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEFCC), March 20, 2025
- ↑ "How political will often favors a coal billionaire and his dirty fossil fuel," The Washington Post, December 9, 2022
- ↑ "Adani Godda Power Plant: Bangladesh likely to get 750MW by March," The Daily Star, January 4, 2023
- ↑ "Heads Adani wins, tails Bangladesh loses," The Daily Star, February 27, 2023
- ↑ “Bangladesh's interim government to review Adani Power deal: Report,” Hindustan Times, September 12, 2024
- ↑ “Adani cuts 50% electricity supply to Bangladesh: Here’s why,” Mint, November 3, 2024
- ↑ “Bangladesh Devises Payment Plan to Avert Adani Power’s Cuts,” BNN Bloomberg, November 6, 2024
- ↑ “'Won't Allow Power Producer to Blackmail Us': Bangladesh Looks to Lower Prices in Deal With Adani Group,” The Wire, December 2, 2024
- ↑ “Issue over coal price not resolved,” Prothom Alo, February 15, 2025
- ↑ “Adani deal: Govt body for renegotiating tax rebate, surcharge, coal price,” The Business Standard, March 9, 2025
- ↑ “PDB says it owes $141m less than what Adani claims,” Business Standard, March 22, 2025
- ↑ “Adani resumes power supply as Bangladesh starts paying,” Times of India, March 28, 2025
- ↑ “Some power plants guzzle 90pc more fuel than peers ,” NewAge, April 29, 2025
- ↑ “Adani seeks fresh lifeline for troubled Jharkhand power plant,” The Business Standard, December 10, 2024
- ↑ "Adani Power Vs The People Of Jharkhand," Newslaundry, December 22, 2016
- ↑ Stephen Long, "Adani power plant and coal plans threatened by land owner court action," ABC, July 9, 2020
- ↑ 33.0 33.1 [1] Brickworks Ratings on Adani Power (Jharkhand), September 9, 2019
- ↑ "India approves Jharkhand power SEZ," IJGlobal, March 5, 2019
Additional data
To access additional data, including an interactive map of coal-fired power stations, a downloadable dataset, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.
