Power ministry facing fund crisis
Power ministry has been facing a fund crisis following the increase of its overall expenses in the current fiscal, according to official sources.
A top official said the power division, to deal with the situation, already sought additional allocation of Tk 2,000 crore for the current fiscal.
“But, even this additional fund will not be enough to meet the overall expenses in the remaining period of the current fiscal,” he added.
Under the current fiscal (2010-11), the power division was among the highest fund recipients as a single department having received about Tk 6,000 crore, almost double its previous year's budget.
Sources said setting up of a huge number of rental and peaking power plants has pushed up the need for such additional fund.
So far, the government signed contracts for 33 power plants having a total capacity of about 2,600megawatts (MW). Of these, 8 peaking power plants and some other base-load plants will be installed in the public sector while the rest will be set up in private sector.
The issue of additional fund requirement came up at a recent meeting of the power division where different organisations under it placed their additional demands.
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