The government is planning to increase energy prices by 12 per cent annually until the year 2013 to attract investment both from home and abroad in the energy-hungry Bangladesh , an international conference was told yesterday.
 "To rationalize tariff, government is planning a 12 per cent annual growth in tariff until 2013," said a concluding a statement of the conference at a hotel in the capital. "The government must take into account the interest of all stakeholders in taking any such
measures."
International Chamber of Commerce, Bangladesh (ICC,B) organised the conference titled "Energy for Growth", providing an interaction platform for the energy sector stakeholders to come up with ideas on how the country could overcome the nagging energy crisis.
Replying to a question at a post-conference press briefing, ICC,B president Mahbubur Rahman said the government plan of increasing the tariff was revealed at the breakout sessions attended by the policymakers and senior officials of the relevant government agencies.
"People will argue why the tariff had been enhanced when there is almost no supply of electricity… whatever supply is there, appropriate price should be paid," he said.
Around 550 experts and financiers from 10 countries, apart from Bangladesh , took part in the conference, shared their respective experiences in different countries and showed how Bangladesh could replicate the success stories to overcome the crisis.
The conference noted that the Bangladesh economy had been growing at about six percent annually over the last few years. Overcoming all hurdles, the growth of the manufacturing sector even reached the double digit.
But, it expressed concern over an unexpected hurdle that appeared on the scene - that is shortage of energy - when the country was poised for a take-off stage, with manufacturing sector leading the way.
"Future investment in manufacturing will be discouraged, while existing industries may face difficulty in smooth operation, unless energy is available," it said, adding that the energy crunch was hitting the country at a particularly critical period of development. "Currently around 1-2 percent of our GDP is lost due to power crisis."
Amid deep concern over the energy crisis, Finance Minister AMA Muhith told the inaugural session of the conference that the government had already approved energy sector projects worth one billion US dollar so far and sought patience from the people until the projects coming into production in next two and a half years to three years.
He also called upon the investors both from home and abroad to participate in the government's plan to generate 9,276 MW of electricity by 2015, of which 4,526 MW would be contributed from the private sector plants.
Muhith recognized two failures of the government - the power generation target for the year 2010 and the initiative of public-private partnership. He said the 2010 target for power generation would take 2011 to achieve while one contract under PPP would be signed by the end of this fiscal year.
Reiterating the call for investment by the private sector, Prime Minister's Adviser on Energy and Mineral Resources Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury said that the energy sector plan of the government needs US$ 10 billion of investment in next 5 years.
State minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Enamul Haque called upon the private sector to join hands with the government to invest in the renewable energy to diversify supply sources.
The conference called for immediately going for open pit mining of the coal resources in Barapukuria and Phulbari. "Liquid oil basedpower plants can reduce the power crisis in the short-term while coal can be used to meet the medium to long term demand," it said.
It added that Bangladesh needed a modern, safe and environment-friendly extraction of coal from Barapukuri and Phulbary mines, within a robust Coal Policy. Possible resistance against open-pit mining should be handled pro-actively.
The issue of relocation and rehabilitation of the affected population due to mining and exploration is vital and all actions in this context must be in compliance with legal system to bring confidence among the local people. With a view to ensuring accountability and transparency, setting up a mining authority could be considered.