By birth, he is Bangladeshi, and while most of his businesses remain rooted in his homeland, his wealth has grown in Singapore, where he is now the 41st richest billionaire. Leveraging political ties, he has maintained a dominant grip over Bangladesh’s power and energy sector, reshaping it to his advantage.
He is Muhammed Aziz Khan, chairman of Summit Group and the most influential businessman in Sheikh Hasina’s inner circle.
As a close confidant of the former prime minister, Aziz Khan used his influence to establish more than 20 power plants with a combined capacity of around 3,000 MW during Hasina’s 15-16 years in power.
His vast empire stretches beyond energy, extending to LNG terminals, oil imports, and various other ventures, including telecommunications.
However, now that Sheikh Hasina's regime has been toppled by a mass uprising, allegations are surfacing that Aziz Khan manipulated power and energy policies to suit his demands, with power plants constructed according to Summit’s requests rather than national needs.
Officials from the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) have alleged that Aziz Khan monopolised the energy sector through unnecessary power plant constructions, contract extensions, inflated service charges on fuel imports, and excessive capacity payments.
The company through which Aziz Khan wields such control over the country's energy sector is registered in Singapore, funnelling profits out of Bangladesh.
Summit Group has also been accused of laundering dollars under the guise of purchasing oil and power plant machinery.
Despite these allegations being brought to the government's attention multiple times, Khan remained untouchable during Sheikh Hasina’s rule.
Allegations of monopoly
Aziz Khan, hailing from Gopalganj, Sheikh Hasina’s home district, has close family ties to political power. His brother, Muhammad Faruk Khan, is an influential Awami League leader and a former minister in Hasina’s cabinet.
According to BPDB sources, Aziz Khan first entered Bangladesh’s power sector in 1997 by establishing a small power plant, marking the beginning of the country's energy privatisation.
In 2009, when Sheikh Hasina was re-elected, she moved swiftly to tackle the power crisis. BPDB officials claim that the controversial rental and quick rental power plants were initiated at Summit Group’s prescription. These projects have since been embroiled in allegations of irregularities and corruption.
During this time, Summit Power Limited was awarded contracts for three major plants—52 megawatts in Santahar, 100 megawatts in Syedpur, and 450 megawatts in Bibiyana.
Under the Quick Enhancement of Electricity and Energy Supply (Special Provision) Act, 2010, Summit Group avoided competition for these projects and benefited from tax exemptions on equipment imports. However, Summit Power Limited failed to complete the construction of the plants on time, prompting BPDB to consider forfeiting the company’s $4 million guarantee.
Despite this, Aziz Khan’s influence led to the withdrawal of the forfeiture notice under the directive of then-state minister for power Enamul Haque. The plant locations were instead shifted to Madanganj in Narayanganj and Barishal, against the existing power system master plan.
BPDB data indicates that the original plan for the Santahar and Syedpur plants aimed to reduce evening load shedding in northern regions. However, due to Summit Group’s lack of cooperation, the plan was derailed. Zakir Hossain, then-director of IPPP Cell-3, was allegedly pressured into relocating the plants to Barishal and Narayanganj. BPDB officials assert that with Sheikh Hasina’s backing, they were powerless to intervene.
By relocating the plants, Summit Group saved on fuel transport costs but is alleged to have billed BPDB for those same expenses. Despite widespread allegations of corruption and fraud tied to the rental and quick rental power plants, the company faced no criticism from the highest levels of government.
Instead, in the years that followed, Summit’s demands became the dominant voice in the power sector.
Fuel oil import corruption and money laundering
According to Bangladesh's laws, the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) holds exclusive authority over the import of all types of fuel oil. As such, BPC supplied diesel and furnace oil to private oil-fired power plants as needed. However, officials have accused Summit Group of deceiving the BPC.
Reports suggest that after placing oil orders, Summit Group began refusing to accept the fuel once BPC had imported it. Amid this, Aziz Khan demanded the right to import oil independently, blaming BPC for the issues.
In July 2013, Summit Group was granted permission to import 100,000 tonnes of furnace oil annually, despite objections raised by BPC during an inter-ministerial meeting. These objections were ultimately ignored.
In line with Summit’s demands, all taxes on fuel imports for its power plants were waived, and the government even paid a 9 per cent service charge to Summit Power. Meanwhile, BPC had to pay around 34 per cent tax on oil imports for public use. Following Summit's lead, other owners of oil-fired power plants also began importing fuel independently.
Despite strong opposition from energy experts, the government disregarded their concerns. Professor M Shamsul Alam, an energy expert, pointed out that private power plants are collecting over Tk 4,000 crore annually in service charges for fuel oil imports. This also opens the door to over-invoicing and money laundering.
There have been multiple reports of over-invoicing in Summit’s oil imports reaching BPC and Bangladesh Customs, but these were suppressed due to pressure from Summit.
Investigations revealed that Summit laundered money by inflating import prices to 1.5 times the rate at which BPC purchased furnace oil.
It is also alleged that key advisers to Sheikh Hasina on power, energy, and mineral resources—including Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, former minister Enamul Haque, and former power and principal secretaries Abul Kalam Azad and Ahmad Kaikaus—were directly involved in fulfilling Summit's demands.
Officials who facilitated Summit's operations during their tenure have reportedly received positions at Summit as rewards. For instance, former principal secretary Abul Kalam Azad continues to serve as an adviser to Summit Group.
Beneficiary of capacity charges
BPDB data shows that since 1997, Summit Group has built around 20 power plants, representing 21 per cent of private sector initiatives in Bangladesh’s power sector. Currently, 13 of Summit Power Limited’s plants are operational.
Following Summit’s success, other power generation companies such as Confidence Group, United Group and Orion Group have also emerged in the sector.
Officials said that for the past 16 years, the Power Division has acted as a puppet to these companies, repeatedly extending the terms of rental and quick rental power plants even after their contracts expired. Rental plants have been converted into independent power producers (IPPs) and capacity charges have continued to be paid.
BPDB calculations indicate that from July 2019 to March 2022, Summit Group received Tk 4,406.35 crore solely in capacity charges—approximately 12.57 per cent of the total capacity charges paid during this period.
Summit in the LNG business
Summit also owns the country’s second-largest floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) and LNG terminal in Maheshkhali, Cox’s Bazar. The terminal has a storage capacity of 1,38,000 cubic metres and a regasification capacity of 500 million cubic feet per day. Summit has expressed interest in building another FSRU and LNG terminal in Maheshkhali.
However, sector experts have raised concerns that instability in the international energy market and the depreciation of the Taka against the dollar could put this investment at risk.
When asked about these issues, the interim government’s energy adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan told The Business Post, “Contracts made in the power and energy sector under the ousted Awami League government are currently under review.”
“A committee is working on the matter, and further actions will depend on the committee’s recommendations,” he added.
Quote : “Contracts made in the power and energy sector under the ousted Awami League government are currently under review. A committee is working on the matter.”— Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan
