An uninterrupted power coverage will be ensured 100 percent throughout Bangladesh in the next three to four years, says State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid.
"It took 50 years for South Korea to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply. But it won’t take that much time for us to do so. We will ensure it within the next three to four years," he said on Monday (Nov 11).
The minister was replying to a supplementary question from BNP lawmaker Harunur Rashid from Chapainawabganj-3 during the question-answer session in Parliament.
Replying to another query from lawmaker Khondoker Momota Hena Lovely, Nasrul said Bangladesh would be financially benefited by exporting Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) commercially to abroad as the country now producing nearly 720,000 tonne jointly in the public and private sector, reports BSS.
“ Country’s existing infrastructural strength for producing LPG is more than that of it’s [LPG’s] demand and the total amount of the fuel. Therefore, the country has an opportunity to export it commercially after meeting domestic demand,” he told the parliament.
The LPG has already been newly introduced into the country’s export items after the Prime Minister’s visit to India on last October, this year, he said. The country is now producing nearly 720,000 tonne LPG while it was only 65,000 tonne in 2009.
Even the LPG export will also increase the revenue earning of the government as import duty, value-added tax (VAT) and advance income tax (AIT), Nasrul explained.
At present, a total of 24 companies are importing, cylindering and marketing the LPG and more few organizations will connect with the LPG production process soon, said the state minister.
Besides, the LPG manufacturing capacity is comparatively more than the demand and accumulated amount of the produced gas, he added.
Replying to another query from lawmaker M Abdul Latif, Nasrul said that the total number of solar power users across the country stands at 6,038,303.
“Electricity demand of the many clients has been met by supplying the energy produced by 508 solar stations through net metering system across the country and four solar parks to the national power grid,” he said.
The minister said the government implemented the Net-Metering Guideline in August 2018 to encourage the people for using rooftop solar power.
In reply to a query from Opposition lawmaker Syed Abu Hossain, Nasrul said that the government is working to replace the capital’s old gas pipelines with new ones.
“We are working to replace old gas pipelines in the capital city for ensuring uninterrupted gas supply. Tender for a project will be called soon in this regard,” the minister told the parliament.
The government is encouraging the people to use LPG gas instead of pipeline gas as alternative energy is easily accessible, he added.