The advisory council of the caretaker government has also decided in principle to divide the country into cluster-wise zones for load management, the implementation of which is likely to start from April 15, Energy Adviser Tapan Chowdhury said yesterday.

"The daylight saving plan has already been sent to the cabinet secretary for placing it at the next advisory council meeting," Tapan said after a meeting with a delegation of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) at his office.

Daylight saving time is the convention of advancing clocks so that afternoons have more daylight and mornings have less. Typically clocks are adjusted forward one hour near the start of spring and are adjusted backward in autumn.

"If we can manage zone-wise load across the country, it would help save on an average 250 megawatt power a day," Tapan said.

According to the plan, all industries and business ventures will be asked not to use power on a particular day of the week.

The government will divide the zones after holding meetings with the people of the areas and government agencies concerned.

Tapan said the government will update the programme schedule of the Power Division Master Plan as per reality.

A high-powered taskforce on implementing the master plan was formed in 2005 but it did not hold any meeting during the last two years.

The taskforce, however, held a meeting on Tuesday and decided to reschedule the master plan programme.

The meeting discussed in details when a tender for work order can be floated and which programme of the master plan can be sent to the purchase committee, the energy adviser said.

The BKMEA representatives led by its President Fazlul Haque urged the adviser to allow traders to continue production with generators on the said power-rationing day.

They also urged the government to divide the Narayanganj industrial zone in several zones and ration the power in pick hours instead of a whole day.

Fazlul Haque urged the government to take immediate initiative to recover the embezzled Tk 20,000 crore of the power sector and invest it for its development.

The BKMEA representatives sought the energy adviser's support to extend the effluent treatment plant (ETP) timeframe from eight months to one year.

The adviser asked them to place their proposals in writing so that the ministry can consult with other agencies for consideration.

The government earlier informed all industrial groups, business leaders and chambers about the whole day power rationing plan.