Pvt sector outpaces public sector

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Pvt sector outpaces public sector

Power generation by private companies has grown by over 78 per cent in the last f our f inancial years since 2009-10 while the generation in the public sector has increased by about 13 per cent. According to the data available with the Power Development Board, in the last f our f inancial years, private power suppliers have increased generation by 8,875 million units or kilowatt-hours — f rom 11,360 million units to 20,235 million units. The public sector power plants have increased generation by 2,100 million units — f rom 15,900 million units to 18,000 million units — during the same period. The private sector has about 81 per cent stake on the increased power supply as the total power generation has increased by 10,976 million units over the last f our f inancial years, the data shows. Increasing gas supply to private sector power plants and sluggish pace in setting up of new plants in public sector and lack of increasing ef f iciency and maintenance of old ones caused the boom in the private sector power generation, experts and of f icials said. The trend of increasing power generation by the private companies has a signif icant contribution to doubling the average power generation cost which has ultimately to be borne by the users, they said. The power board and the state-run Rural Electrif ication Board buy electricity f rom private entrepreneurs at a higher cost, between Tk 1 and Tk 2 per unit, than what they pay to public sector agencies. Think tank Unnayan Onneshan chairman Rashed Al Mahmud Titumir told New Age that the government pref erence to the private sector was pushing out the public sector f rom power generation domain. The government’s policy decision was responsible f or establishment of the private sector domination in power generation at the cost of people’s welf are. He said that the cascading ef f ect of power price hike hit common people hard. The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission has increased in six phases the bulk prices of electricity to Tk 4.70 a unit in September 2012 f rom Tk 2.37 since February 2011. In a chain ef f ect, the commission has raised retail power prices by 43.75 per cent — f rom Tk 4 a unit to Tk 5.75 a unit — on an average in f ive phases over the period. Besides, the government subsidy in power generation has also been increased to Tk 3,850 crore in f our years f rom Tk 900 crore in 2009, according to the commission. In 2009-10 f inancial year, the public sector electricity buyers spent Tk 2.59 a unit on average which shot up to about Tk 6 a unit in 2012-13, a power board of f icials said. He said that the government had to ensure gas supply to the private plants due to contractual obligations as the minimum bills would have to be paid whether or not electricity was bought f rom the those plants. Power board member Jalal Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury said that lack of huge investment capacity of the public sector had f orced the authorities to be dependent on private entrepreneurs. He, however, claimed that public sector power producers had taken projects to set up new plants as well as to increase capacity and ef f iciency of the old plants. ‘Af ter completion of the projects, public sector power generation would regain its position,’ he said. According to the government’s mega plan, the contribution of the private sector to power generation would hit 62 per cent by 2016. According to the power board, private companies supplied 11,360 million units of power

in 2009-2010 against a total generation of 27,253 million units. In 2009-2010, the private sector supplied 41.68 per cent of the total electricity. In 2010-11, the private sector supplies 14,811.57 million units of power, about 50.24 per cent of the 29,481.82 million units total generation. In 2011-12, the private sector supplied 18,197 million units, about 52.93 per cent of the total generation of 35,118 million units. In the past f inancial year, the private sector supplied 20,235 million units of power, about 52.93 per cent of the total generation of 38,229 million units.

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