The government should increase and continue the subsidy in the power and energy sector, as the pricing issue of power and energy has cascading effects on the overall economy, which increases inflation and hinders the economic growth of the country.
"Dollar crisis and energy shortages are now much-discussed issues, but we have no way to avoid these two commodities to continue our day-to-day life or stop development works in the country. We need to understand one thing: in the energy sector, we need to import every nut and screw. In the power sector, most items are imported, so the government needs to procure all these goods at higher rates, but people don have the capacity to pay the exact price of these goods. Therefore, subsidy is a must," former energy adviser and energy specialist Dr M Tamim has said.
"We know there is no data on the exact benefit of this subsidy. Yes, subsidy is always a political issue. We see a lack of transparency is a big problem here, even regarding where the subsidy has gone. However, to protect the people from inflation and the overburdening of the economy, I observe it is a must right at the moment," Tamim said in his first-hand reaction to the allocation for the power and energy sector for the fiscal year 2024-2025.
"Our focus should be on capturing more FDI in the energy sector. Nowadays, investors are in a very uncomfortable position as they have failed to return their money to their home countries. The government should seriously think about this issue because if we fail to attract their attention, we will face severe problems in the future in earning FDI," the energy expert has said.
"The proposed budget has no direction to ensure the primary fuel supply of the country or to take proper measures to increase gas output in the future, as there is no plan or directive to improve the situation. Even the allocation is very little. See, when Petrobangla has said it will drill 46 wells in the next one and a half years, but they get only TK 2000 crore. Where will the money come from, as the cost of drilling a well is TK 1500 to 200 crore?" the former energy adviser said.
"Everyone knows that our main challenge is primary fuel. Due to a shortage of primary fuel, we cannot run our power plants, cannot supply an adequate amount of electricity to the industries, or even to households.
Unfortunately, the budget did not discuss the issue," Prof. Tamim said.
"To bring the Bhola gas into the national grid, we need to install a 130 km pipeline. If the government really means that it wants to bring the gas from Bhola, as it is a ready field from which we could bring the gas right now, then the total allocation of money for the energy sector required to implement this is farcical. I don believe a single word of the government spokesman. I don believe the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation data book, as all are fake. If these are the manners to draw a future plan for any sector, it will never make any sense of development," the energy expert said.
Meanwhile, the proposed budget did not discuss the "Gas Development Fund" or "Electricity Development Fund" that the people have created through a verdict of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) 12 years ago.
"These funds are absolutely created by public money for the smooth development of the countrys gas and power sector. From the public pockets, the utility departments have been getting hundreds of crore for a decade. In all public hearings, we raised the issue of where the money is going, as we did not find any development in gas exploration. There was a specific guideline for using the money. The government should be transparent over the issue," Dr. Tamim said.
Bangladesh should follow India as far as subsidy is concerned. They (India) support their people through cutting taxes. We understand that we have limited sources of income. Energy is a cash box for the government, but the reality is that people should be the central point of any type of governance, the former adviser has said.
