Special Correspondent :
The ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia has broken world record fuel prices which already created impact on the Bangladesh market.
Considering the situation, the government has to increase the subsidy in this sector to keep the fuel price stable in the market.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said this while speaking at a press meet organized by Energy Reporter of Bangladesh at Biddyut Bhaban on Monday.
“The situation is still under control, but if the price hikes further, it will be difficult to handle. A total of 65 per cent oil is used for to generate electricity. The price of fuel oil has been increasing for more than a
year in the world market,” the state minister said.
In particular, the price of diesel has broken the record of the last few years, he said adding that the government will have to increase subsidies in the power and energy sectors to handle the situation.
“Although we are trying to keep the fuel price at a tolerable limit, if the price increased beyond the limits, a fresh decision will have to be taken by the government,” Nasrul Hamid said,
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) is now incurring a loss of Tk 80 crore due to rising of fuel prices in the world market, he said adding that which is around Tk 2500 crore per month. “It would be a great problem for the country if it continues,” he said.
Meanwhile, the summer sets in and the holy month of Ramzan is knocking on the door and demand for electricity is now increasing by 200 MW per day, the state minister said. Besides, there gas price is also increasing and it is needed to ensure uninterrupted electricity gas facilities during Ramzan, he added.
More than Tk 14,000 crore in arrears of the energy and power sectors even in this crisis moment and these bills have been delayed realize due to coronavirus pandemic situation.
State subsidy on power poses to nearly double to Tk 200 billion in the last fiscal year.
Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), country’s lone buyer of electricity from power producers, assumes that increased consumption of oils in power plants to generate electricity might jack up the subsidy requirement in the FY 2021-22.
The power board got subsidy worth around Tk 117 billion in FY 21, which was 34.96 per cent higher than previous FY’s Tk 86.09 billion.
According to the BPDB, the board got subsidy worth around Tk 89.29 billion from the Ministry of Finance in FY ’19.
It got around Tk 62.41 billion during FY ’18, Tk 56 billion during FY ’17, Tk 53.76 billion in FY ’16, Tk 50.43 billion in FY ’15 and Tk 47.14 billion in FY ’14.
The BPDB got Tk 54.90 billion during FY ’13, Tk 50.01 billion during FY ’12, Tk 29.73 billion during FY ’11 and Tk 17.90 billion during FY’10 as subsidy from the government.
Currently the country’s furnace oil-fired power plants have the capacity to generate around 7,000mw electricity and the diesel plants have the capacity to generate around 1,000mw electricity.
