Tk 11,351cr proposed for energy sector

Star file photo

Finance Minister AMA Muhith proposed an allocation of Tk 11,351.20 crore for the power and energy sector in the upcoming fiscal.

He presented a booklet titled “Roadmap on Power and Energy Sectors: Trend of Progress” before the house detailing information on the power and energy sector in the past four years.

In the Annual Development Programme for fiscal 2013-14, power and energy sector will receive 17.2 percent, the minister said.

POWER

A coal-based 1,320 MW power plant is currently in the preparatory phase, while an agreement with Russia have been signed to install two nuclear power plants of 1,000 MW capacities each at Ruppur in Pabna, he said.

According to the roadmap, after installation, the power plants will serve with a generation capacity of 19,701 MW by 2017, bringing the supply and demand of power in equilibrium, the finance minister told the House.

Reflecting on the current tenure of the government, Muhith said: "A total of 54 power plants have been installed in this time period, generating 3,845 MW of additional electricity to the national grid."

The per capita electricity production also increased from 220 kwh to 292 kwh, with the beneficiary coverage rising from 47 to 60 percent.

"The government also installed over 2 million solar home systems," he added.

GAS

Muhith proposed a ‘Gas Development Fund’ for investment in and development of oil and gas exploration, production and distribution activities for the upcoming fiscal.

Currently 2,260 mmcft of natural gas is being extracted from 19 gas fields on a daily basis, which added up to 680 mmcft natural gas in the government’s tenure.

The ban on gas connections for domestic consumers has also been withdrawn recently, Muhith said.

PETROLEUM

In order to enhance energy security, the storage capacity of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation has been enhanced to 9.83 lakh MT, the finance minister said.