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Fuel imports soar on rental power plants

Rejaul Karim Byron
Import of both petroleum products and capital machinery increased significantly in the first two months of the current fiscal year mainly due to a rush in setting up quick rental power plants for a shortcut solution to the power crisis.
According to the central bank's letter of credit (LC) setdement statistics, import of petroleum surged by 151 percent in the July-August period of the current fiscal year compared to the same period last year.
Such a rise was 50 percent in the same period last year.
According to the LC settlement statistics, capital machinery import went up by 44 percent during the two-month period this year, while such an increase was by 23 percent in the same period last year.
A finance ministry official said the import of petroleum shot up because of a rise in import of diesel and furnace oil to meet the soaring demand from the quick rental power plants.
The import of petroleum products will increase further in future, showed the LC opening statistics.
In the first two months of the current fiscal year, LC opening for import of petroleum products rose by 92 percent.
In the current fiscal year, the government will have to import 68.9 lakh tonnes of petroleum, of which 21.50 lakh tonnes will be consumed by the power plants, according to an estimate by the Finance Division.
Last year, the total fuel import was at 48.7 5 lakh tonnes, of which 9.26 lakh tonnes were used by the quick rental power plants.
Power generation by such plants started last year. Before that, Bangladesh used to import 32-35 lakh tonnes of fuel every year.
Due to these power plants, the import of capital machinery also marked a rise last fiscal year, and the trend will continue this year.
However, as most of the capital machinery for power plants has already been imported, the
import is showing a slow pace in the current fiscal year.
In the first two months of the current fiscal year, LC opening for import of capital machinery dropped by 38 percent, against a 98 percent surge during the same period last year.
Till May this year, the government has awarded permission to the private sector to install 24 power plants with a total generation capacity of 2,770 megawatts.
Of them, 14 have already gone into power generation and the rest 10 are being set up. After May, the government also gave permission for setting up some more power plants under the private sector.
Seventeen power plants, most of them diesel-run, are also being
set up on the government's own initiative.
Capital machinery import increased in the recent times due to the power plants, but as no more permission is being given now, the import of capital machinery has taken a downslide.
However, import demand for petroleum products has been on the rise and it will continue to go up in future, the finance ministry official said.
Meanwhile, at a dialogue at The Daily Star office yesterday, economists said quick rental power plants have created various effects on the economy.
They said, as a short-run solution, there was no alternative to setting up quick rental power plants, but the government will have to come up with a long-term solution to the power crisis.
According to the finance division estimate, if the fuel price is not hiked, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation will have to count a subsidy of Tk 28,014 crore this year.
A finance division official said, to pay the subsidy, the government will have to increase its borrowing from the banking sector, pushing up inflation and interest rate further.
It will also hinder private sector investment, the official added.