Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged all to exercise austerity in electricity consumption as they may not get it at such a lower rate in the future.
"With the improvement in socioeconomic condition of people, I think, they'll have to pay more than what is spent on power production. So, my request is that all will have to exercise austerity in using electricity. I request you all to check the wastage of electricity," she said.
The Prime Minister said this on Thursday while inaugurating 'the Power and Energy Week 2018' at Bashundhara International Convention City (BICC) in the city.
"The electricity production cost is Tk 6.25 per kilowatt, but the sale price is Tk 4.82 per kilowatt," Sheikh Hasina said adding that the government now provides subsidy to the power sector.
She said her government has increased the country's power generation capacity to 20,000 megawatt in the last 10 years from 3,000 megawatt in 2009. Now some 90 per cent of the country's people enjoy the electricity facility, but it was only 47 per cent in 2009, she added.
Hasina said the total number of electricity clients rose to over 30 million from only 10.8 million in 2009 across the country, reports UNB.
In the last nine and a half years, agreements were signed for setting up 135 power plants with total generation capacity of 24,351 megawatt and a total of 12,250 megawatts of electricity were added to the national grid during the period, she said.
The present government has taken a mega plan to increase power generation to 24,000 megawatts by 2021, 40,000 megawatts by 2030 and 60,000 megawatts by 2041, the Prime Minister said.
Nepalese Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation Minister Barsaman Pun (Ananta) spoke as the special guest at the inaugural function presided over by State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid.
Prime Minister's Energy Adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Tajul Islam, Power Division Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus and Energy and Mineral Resources Division Secretary Abu Hena Md Rahmatul Muneem also spoke on the occasion.
Officials of different public entities and private companies were awarded for their best performance in the power and energy sector, while journalists were also given awards for their best reporting in this regard.
The Power and Energy Ministry organised a three-day exhibition at BICC, marking the Power and Energy Week. This year’s event was named as ‘Anirban Agami’ (inextinguishable future).
A number of foreign guests are participating in the event, in which more than 100 public and private entities will showcase their products and services.
Four seminars are scheduled to be held on different topics during the three days to facilitate interactions among the stakeholders in the sector.