Speaking at a meeting on 'Power sector reforms' with donors' representatives at the NEC Building in the capital, Tapan said the government is also exploring the possibility of importing electricity from Nepal and Bhutan.

But, he said, it appeared that Nepal and Bhutan are already having bilateral agreements on power with India. Bangladesh's success in negotiations may take time, he added.

Importing electricity from Myanmar, where possibility of hydroelectricity is immense, can be achieved quickly, he said referring to the present power crisis and the need to mitigate in the short run. He said the power secretary will lead the delegation.

Tapan said Dhaka is also keen to see that the tri-nation gas pipeline from Myanmar to India through Bangladesh is implemented. It may also open scope for Bangladesh to take Myanmar gas as and when such necessity arises, he said.

In this regard, he said, Dhaka is showing flexibility to its earlier conditions.

Tapan said the foreign ministry is dealing with the pipeline issue and when implemented, it may fetch between $250 to 300 million annually as wheeling charge. However, Bangladesh is giving priority at this stage to importing electricity from Myanmar, he said.

The meeting was arranged jointly by the Asian Development Bank and the Economic Relations Division (ERD) of the Ministry of Finance.

Japanese ambassador to Bangladesh Masayuki Inoue, ADB country director Hua Du, Secretary of Power Division AKM Zafar Ullah Khan and Secretary of Energy Division AMM Nasir Uddin took part in the discussion.

The meeting was also attended by the Danish ambassador, representatives of JICA, World Bank, USAID, KFW of Germany, Japan Bank and the Norwegian embassy.

The adviser said the government is working on priority basis to rehabilitate the existing power plants and set up new plants to mitigate the supply shortfall. He said once the current rehabilitation programme is over, the supply scenario will see overnight change.

Tapan referred to some problems with regard to unsolicited tender bids on power projects and said the government wants to go ahead with full transparency to avoid controversy, but it is also delaying the project processing.

He said the government is working closely with the WB and the ADB to avoid misgivings.

He said the government is going to refurbish the Energy Regulatory Commission with energetic and dynamic manpower.

The Japanese ambassador emphasised the need for making quicker the pace of the power sector reform.

Hua Du said there is no shortage of investment fund in Bangladesh's power sector but it must come up with viable projects and risk mitigation in power sector management.