Nasrul Hamid, the state minster for power, energy and mineral resources, yesterday, said the government is not going to reduce the prices of fuel oil anytime soon. He added the decision came from the highest policy-making level. At a press meet in Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU), Nasrul said the proposal to reduce oil prices was submitted to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, but she didn’t give her consent. When asked why there was a difference of statements between him and finance minister AMA Muhit, about oil price reduction, Nasrul said he didn’t have any interaction with the finance minister, over this issue. Earlier, Muhith said that the government was "yet to reach any decision" on fuel price reduction.
“I did send a proposal to the Prime Minister, who is also in charge of the power, energy and mineral resources ministry. The Prime Minister said no to the proposal. So, I don’t think what the finance minister said in this regard matters anymore.”
He said the ministry had planned to reduce the prices, but the price of fuel has increased in the international markets. “So, after careful analysis, the Prime Minister felt that this is not the right time to reduce prices.”
Answering another question from journalists, Nasrul said the government is determined about implementing the Rampal Power Plant project. “You have heard what our Prime Minister said in the World Economic Forum (WEF). She's more concerned about the environment of our country than any other global leader.”
Nasrul said that developed countries have lifted themselves up to a position where they now can talk about renewable energy usage. “But, one must understand that, those countries have reached where they are now by using coal, and not renewable energy.” The state minister said that if the per capita income of Bangladesh reaches US$ 5,000, then the people of this country can think about using renewable energy. “Look at countries like Denmark and Netherlands which use renewable energy on a large scale. The per capita income in those countries is more than US$ 18,000. Their citizens can afford costly renewable energy. We’re still not in that position and we have to use coal for our base-load power plant.”
Nasrul said that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had invited former US president Al Gore to visit Rampal Power Plant site. “It’s easy to advise from a distance, with information found on the internet. An on-the-spot visit, however, can change perceptions.” He said that when any large project is implemented, there are going to be debates. “But, the truth is that the world will still not move away from coal, in the next 40 years.
“So, if we implement any project, as per provisions of the Environment Act, which we are doing at Rampal, then there won’t be any problem.”
“Besides, when you talk about coal, you cannot compare the use of coal in Bangladesh, with other countries. We are not using dirty coal, we are using clean coal.”
He said that 63% of electricity in Bangladesh is still produced from gas. “Because we use cleaner energy sources, we’re thinking of trading carbon credits in the international market. This will help us in financing large projects.”
About the slow pace of implementation of several key projects, Nasrul said, “We need highly professional manpower. Because of a lack of professionals, there are lags in decision making. We have set up the Power Management Institute, to produce adequate number of professionals. In future, we will be able to free ourselves from unnecessary bureaucratic bottlenecks.” Nasrul said the government planned to install enterprise resource planning (ERP) software in all offices of the power sector, to make the processes completely digitised. “Power sector offices will be paperless within the next two to three years.” Discussing the developments in power sector in the last three years, he said, at present, Bangladesh has coverage in 80 per cent of its area, which was only 56 per cent three years back. We have diversified electricity financing. In every month, 550,000 subscribers are getting connection. We are now giving electricity connections within a day.” He said that to diversify the financing for large power projects, the government plans to issue power bonds very soon.