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Bangladesh’s prime minister did not agree to buy electricity from a Chinese power plant at a higher rate than from India after New Delhi proposed charging an extra fee in August 2026, contrary to false posts circulating online teasing him over the deal. While Dhaka will indeed pay more for the electricity from a Chinese waste-to-power plant currently under construction in the capital than imports from India, the tariffs for buying from the plant were agreed to in 2021, years before Tarique Rahman came into office and before India’s proposal.<\/p>\n
“Furious over half a penny more, (intelligent) Bangladesh buys Chinese electricity at 127% higher cost to teach India a lesson,” reads Bengali-language text in a graphic shared on the official Facebook page of Indian newspaper\u00a0 Anandabazar Patrika<\/a> on September 3, 2026.<\/p>\n It also features a photo of Bangladeshi Prime Minister Tarique Rahman with Indian and Chinese flags behind him. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Screenshot of the falsely shared post taken on September 8 with red Xs added by AFP<\/p>\n <\/span><\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n It surfaced after India’s state-owned NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam power company proposed in August charging an extra 0.01 Indian rupee (0.01 US cent) per unit of electricity sold to Bangladesh to cover grid maintenance and other sundry expenses. An agreement was later reached to halve the charge, according<\/a> to Bangladeshi media ( archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n It also contains a\u00a0 link<\/a> to a news report from the outlet published on September 3, saying that in response to the proposed fee, Rahman wanted to build a power plant in Aminbazar in Dhaka and had chosen a Chinese company for the project.<\/p>\n The report goes on to criticise the deal, as the agreement would see Bangladesh paying 25 takas ($0.2) per unit for power from the Aminbazar plant, but importing power from the Indian company costs only 11 takas ($0.08). “Dhaka will pay 127 percent more to get electricity from Beijing,” it says.\u00a0<\/p>\n The graphic<\/a> has been shared elsewhere on Facebook, but the claim that Rahman had decided to contract a Chinese company to build the power plant after India proposed the extra tariff is false, as the contract was awarded in 2021 — years before India’s proposal and before Rahman became prime minister.<\/p>\n According to a report<\/a> from the United News of Bangladesh agency on December 1, 2021, the China Machinery Engineering Corporation had been tasked with building the waste-to-power plant in Aminbazar. The government would then purchase power from the plant at 21.78 US cents per unit — worth 18.295 takas at the time — over a period of 25 years ( archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n AFP calculations show the amount is equivalent to about 25 takas at September 2026 exchange rates.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the Bangladesh Power Development Board’s (BPDB) latest annual report<\/a>, Bangladesh imported power from India at 11.72 takas ($0.09) per unit in the 2024-25 fiscal year ( archived link<\/a>).\u00a0<\/p>\n Md Shameem Hassan, the BPDB’s public relations director, told AFP on September 8 the extra charge on electricity import from India — known as a wheeling charge — and the power bought from the Chinese firm are two different matters.\u00a0<\/p>\n “The issue with India is related to the wheeling charge of electricity, while the latter one is power tariff related to the Aminbazar waste-to-energy project. Both are not comparable with each other. Comparing the newly added Indian charge with the waste-to-energy cost is flawed,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Minister of State for Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives, Mir Shahe Alam, has also told<\/a> reporters that the new waste-to-power plant is due to enter service in 2028 and is needed to solve Dhaka’s garbage problem ( archived link<\/a>).<\/p>\n “Garbage and waste are a major burden for Dhaka city. The price may seem high. But considering the environmental benefits and carbon credits, the cost will be recovered in other ways,” he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n