Mahmudul Hasan and Asifur Rahman

The government has shifted its focus from power generation to transmission and distribution as the sector is struggling with overcapacity even though consumers are yet to receive a credible supply of electricity.

Because of the overcapacity, the country has to fork out a hefty amount to meet the cost of unutilised electricity.

This prompted the government to allocate funds in the budget for the next fiscal year for several large projects to improve the power transmission and distribution infrastructure.

Of the Tk 27,484 crore allocated for the power, energy and mineral resources ministry, the Power Division received about Tk 22,000 crore.

There were no allocations for new projects for the generation system and only the ongoing plants have received new funds, said Mohammad Hossain, director-general of the Power Cell, an agency under the Power Division.