Interestingly, the government is still claiming that the present demand for power is not more than 4,100 MW. "This is intended to give an impression that the level of load shedding is not very high," said a well-placed source in Power Development Board (PDB).

The cabinet purchase committee yesterday approved the PDB's tenders for awarding contracts for three skid-mount power plants -- Shajibazar 80 MW, Bogra 40 MW and Fenchuganj 50 MW plants. This move was initiated about nine months ago to resolve power crisis on an 'urgent basis'.

Other than the skid-mount plants, which will sell power to the government on rental basis, a few projects under implementation are also suffering delay or under-performance due to various reasons. The new Barapukuria coal mine power project with an inflated cost is generating only half its 250 MW capacity and is lagging behind schedule by months. The new 70 MW Mymensingh phase-3 plant, being built at a cost four times that of similar plants, is now five months behind schedule.

But even if these plants start generating power in full swing, there will be no respite from load shedding this year or even in the coming years, thanks to the lack of government action in this sector in the last four years, PDB sources said.

The PDB is currently generating a maximum of 3,500 MW power while it is officially claiming that the demand for power is around 4,000 MW to 4,100 MW.

In its latest report to the parliamentary standing committee on power and energy ministry, the PDB said Dhaka Electricity Supply Authority (Desa) and Dhaka Electricity Supply Company (Desco) demand 1,600 MW power and Rural Electrification Board (REB) 2,000 MW while it (PDB) needs 1,600 MW.

Desa officials however claim that Dhaka's present demand for power is 1,800 MW.

"The demand for power should be viewed in the context of its rapid growth. We are having a demand growth of 10 percent a year. This means, by next year, the demand will exceed 5,700 MW. Unfortunately, we don't have power projects in the pipeline that can even remotely meet this situation," sad a top official of the PDB.

Because of this grim power situation, consumption of diesel for power generation at individual level has drastically increased, which is yet be taken into account by the government. According to an apartment complex owner, spending on diesel for power generation for the apartments last year was Tk 1,4000. This year the apartment complex already spent Tk 36,000 in the last four months for the same purpose.

"A major cause of the power crisis is the disproportionate and rapid expansion of REB's power network. The REB has doubled its consumer base in the last five years, which could have been a blessing for the country if power generation was adequate But now it is a curse," said a REB source.

The REB has six million subscribers, serving three crore people. It still has 4,000 kilometres of its distribution network waiting for power supply from the PDB. Despite this the REB continues to provide eight connections a day, for which the PDB is not prepared to provide power.