Industrial production has been severely disrupted due to load shedding, soaring gas prices, and other crises, lawmaker AK Azad has said.
“The government has raised the prices of gas and electricity with the promise of a continuous supply. Despite the pledge, load shedding has not decreased,” AK Azad said while speaking at a discussion on ‘Power and Energy Sector in the National Budget FY2025: Challenges and Proposed Measures’ organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) today (23 June).
"Due to persistent load shedding, industries have been forced to rely on generators powered by liquid fuels for up to eight hours per day. Industries have also been using captive power plants, purchasing gas at high prices from CNG stations,” he added.
He emphasised the necessity of continuous power supply for employment creation and national development, urging the government to ensure transparency and accountability at all levels.
CPD Research Director Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem said, "Even with increased electricity prices and government subsidies, the PDB will face substantial losses.”
"Currently, electricity generation falls short of demand due to distribution and transmission limitations, resulting in load shedding despite surplus electricity, while also paying a large amount as capacity charge for power plants," he said, explaining the rising electricity bills, as well as PDB's projected loss.
Advocating for greater reliance on renewable energy, Dr Moazzem called for a reduction in the use of fossil fuel-based power plants, labelling them ‘environmentally harmful and expensive’.
He criticised the government's increasing import of costly fossil fuels and emphasised focusing on domestic gas exploration.
He also urged the government to develop a smart grid system and improve transmission and distribution lines to ensure an uninterrupted power supply.
Professor Dr. M Shamsul Alam, Energy Advisor of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), has said that the government has completely failed to keep its promise to supply electricity to every consumer and decrease load shedding.
Shamsul Alam termed the system of automatic adjustment of fuel prices as 'automatically adjusted to corruption’.
Director General (DG) of Power Cell Mohammad Hossain, BUET Professor D M Tamim, Bangladesh Power Management Institute Rector Mohammad Alauddin, honorary professor of Dhaka University and energy expert Badrul Imam among others spoke at the event.
