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Power Div seeks Tk 8,000cr more

Published : Thursday, 11 June, 2020 at 12:00 AM  Count : 648

The Power Division has sought TK 8,000 crore in the budget for the fiscal year 2020-21 to offset the loss of power distribution companies due to Covid-19 and cyclone Amphan excluding its regular budgetary allocation.
According to the Ministry of Power, Energy
and Mineral Resources, corona virus has reduced power consumption across the country to 8,000 to 9,00MW from 12,000 to 14,000 MW during summer time.
"The amount of loss in power sector stands at Tk 37,000 crore due to corona outbreak. Super Cyclone Amphan has inflicted huge damage on our distribution sector, especially in the south-western part of the country.  As per calculation of the distribution agencies, the amount is almost TK 5,000 crore" a senior official said.
The power sector has been the most successful and important sector for the Awami League-led government for more than a decade, focusing its emphasis on increasing the generation capacity and plans to give electricity connection to all upazilas by 2020.
" The Power Division has proposed to have a total outlay of development budget of Tk 27,597.73 crore of which Tk 24,803.93 crore will come from the Finance Ministry as budget allocation while ECA-financing is Tk 1837 crore (foreign loan), and the Power Division itself will finance Tk 955.84 crore. We implemented 93 per cent ADP (annul development plan) in the last fiscal year," State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid told the Daily Observer on Wednesday.
He said 93 percent people have access to power and the number of beneficiaries has doubled within a decade. But Covid-19 and Amphan have slowed down the pace of our achievement, for that we need some subsidy, he added.
According to him, the Power Division has taken up a plan to implement 93 projects and Energy Division plans to implement 24 projects in the 2020-2021 fiscal year.
"We want to increase our power networking capacity in the upcoming fiscal year and gas network across the country. That's why the transmission and distribution sector and implementation of gas pipeline projects would get highest priority in the next fiscal year," Nasrul Hamid said.
The Energy and Mineral Resources Division will have the total budget of
Tk 3138.65 crore of which the allocation from the Finance Ministry is Tk 1835.72 crore, while Tk 260.29 crore from Gas Development Fund (GDF), and Tk 1042.74 crore from self financing from the Energy Division.
In the proposed budget, the Power Development Board (PDB) has got the allocation as a loan. The government does not provide subsidy to the power sector any more instead, the sector mostly gets the money as a loan nowadays.
"The benefit of the progress in the energy and power sectors is not equally distributed, and the crying for uninterrupted power supply is also a challenge here. We want to see a balance corruption- free power and Energy sector," Professor Shamsul alam said while make his comment on the budget of the next fiscal year.












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