Power sector has sought Tk 46.18 billion more in the revised annual development budget (RADP) as some ongoing projects on electricity generation, transmission and distribution need money beyond the allocations.
Officials said the additional amount is equivalent to 18 per cent of the fund allocated in the original budget.
The power sector got Tk 214.58 billion in the original ADP for the current fiscal year (2017-18).
The Planning Commission (PC) has started work to revise the Tk 1.64 trillion original ADP. The recast is expected to be finalised by next month (February).
"We've already sent our fund requirements to the PC. Since the project- implementing agencies have demanded higher allocations for some of the projects in the remaining period of the current fiscal, we have sought the higher funds from the Commission," a senior Power Division official said Friday.
The companies and agencies under the Power Division have already taken up different generation, distribution, and transmission-related projects as part of government recipe for cent-percent electricity coverage.
Meanwhile, the Power Division, for its funds, banks more on government's internal sources compared to external sources provided by foreign development partners.
It has placed a demand for Tk 32.77 billion or 26 per cent higher funds to Tk 127.90 billion in the forthcoming RADP from the internal resources. In the original ADP it has a Tk 95.13 billion outlay.
The division has sought Tk 13.41 billion or 10 per cent higher funds to Tk 132.86 billion in the upcoming RADP from the external resources against the original allocation of Tk 119.45 billion in the current ADP.
Power is the top-priority sector of the government as the country struggles to overcome huge electricity shortfall against the demand growth every year.
According to the power-sector master plan 2010, Bangladesh's anticipated peak demand would be 17,304 megawatts (MW) a day in FY2020.
A senior PC official said the Power Division has sought the higher funds in the upcoming RADP from its present allocations as it sees increased expenditure in the remaining months of the fiscal.
The division, the highest holder of development funds, has spent Tk 107.55 billion or 48 per cent of its total allocations in the ADP during July-November period of the FY2018.
During the same period last FY2017, the division spent 28 per cent of its total allocated money.
It has been implementing 97 development projects in the current ADP for improving the electricity-supply situation in the country.
"We are hopeful of utilising the proposed money in the RADP in the current fiscal as we have different power-generation, transmission and distribution schemes to boost the country's electricity supply," said the Power Division official.
The government is committed to generating 20,000MW electricity by FY2021 and needs investment worth billions of dollars.
Bangladesh's nearly 30 per cent people are still out of grid power supply as the government has so far failed to expand its distribution-and-transmission system across the country.
The PC official said they were reviewing the fund proposals of the Power Division. "After scrutiny, we will finalise the new outlay for the revised ADP," he added.
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