Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal proposed an allocation of Tk 26,065 crore for the power and energy sector in the national budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year which is Tk 1,419 crore less than the allocation in the current fiscal year.
This allocation, however, is Tk 1,547 crore more than the revised budget.
The Power Division alone will get Tk 24,196 crore and the Energy and Mineral Resources Division will get Tk 1,870 crore.
The allocation for the power sector is 10 per cent of the total budget outlay. The Road Transport and Highways Division received the highest allocation of 27 per cent.
While the allocation for the power sector remained normal, the allocation for the Energy and Mineral Resources Division has been greatly reduced. The budget for the division has been declining for three consecutive financial years.
In the current financial year, the allocation for Energy and Mineral Resources Division is Tk 2,086 crore. The revised budget, it came down to Tk 1,845 crore. However, the government is subsidising the Energy Division separately for importing LNG.
In the current fiscal year, Tk 6,000 crore has been allocated for LNG imports. Tk 4,000 crore has been received. In the proposed budget, the Finance Division will allocate Tk 6,000 crore for LNG imports, ministry sources said.
