Most of the ongoing projects of country’s power sectors were crawling slowly while many remained almost stuck at the initial stage, imposing potential risk of creating fiscal burden for the government.
Besides, only 56 per cent of the power plants are generating power due to lack of proper feasibility study and shortage of energy supply putting huge pressure of subsidy on the government.
The implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) of the Planning Ministry noted these lapses in a research report titled “Implementation progress of all the projects in the country's power sector’’.
Although the power projects were initiated three to ten years back but implementation of most of the projects remained stuck at the initial stage. There have also been cases of advance payments to contractors in some projects, which is very disappointing, said IMED.
The state run agency IMED under the Ministry of Planning report said, only 56 per cent of the power plants installed in the country are generating power. But due to lack of proper feasibility study before taking up the projects and not ensuring the energy supply to the power plants, huge amount of subsidy pressure has been created on the government.
IMED's research report showed that the 12 projects implementing by the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). In which 7 projects implementation works have already passed 7 to 9 years.
The average financial and actual progress in the projects is 64.41 per cent and 74 per cent respectively, which is not as expected.
Besides, 17 per cent projects of BPDB have already exceeded 4 to 6 years. There is average financial progress is 56.54 per cent and actual progress is 66.76 per cent which is highly disappointing added IMED. On the other hand, financial progress is only 16.29 per cent and actual progress is only 30.86 per cent even after more than ten years of a project.
The period of 6 projects under Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) is already between 4 and 6 years. There is average financial and actual progress of the projects is 42 and 48 respectively, which is very disappointing.
IMED report pointed out that out of 17 projects under Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), 8 projects have an implementation period of 7 to 9 years, and the average financial and actual progress is 42 per cent and 51 per cent respectively.
Meanwhile, the implementation time for 6 projects is between 4 to 6 years. In this case, the financial and actual progress is 48 per cent and 50 per cent respectively, which is very disappointing according to IMED.
The projects implementation of Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) and Dhaka Electricity Supply Company (DESCO) is the most worst said IMED report. Out of 6 projects under DPDC, the implementation period of 3 projects has already exceeded 4 years, the report shows. The average financial progress is only 40 per cent and actual progress is 27 per cent in this case.
The actual progress has been far less than financial progress. In such a case, it appears that the contractor's bill has been paid before the work is completed. Again, even after 10 years of implementation of the project, the financial and actual progress has been 17.96 per cent and 22.84 per cent respectively.
Besides, the implementation period of 3 projects taken by DESCO is already between 4 and 6 years. The average financial and actual progress of the projects is only 2 per cent and 5 respectively. In more than 4 years, the financial progress of the projects undertaken by Power Cell is only 13.31 per cent and the actual progress is 30 per cent, which is a deplorable condition.
Out of the 4 ongoing projects by the West Zone Power Distribution Company, 2 projects have 4 to 6 years and another two have 7 to 9 years exceeded. In both cases, implementation progress is not as expected. A similar condition prevails in the North West Power Generation Company (NWPGCL).
Meanwhile, a project by Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh (EGCB) has passed more than 4 years where the financial progress is 70.54 per cent and real progress is 29.29 per cent.
The contractor has been billed before the construction completed. Similarly, the implementation status of SPCL, CPGCBA and SREDA projects are also very poor.
The implementation of 2 projects under RPCL is very critical. One project under the BR Power Gen is nearing completion. Out of the four projects by NESCO, the two projects are yet see the light and another 2 projects is between 4 to 6 years. However the financial and actual progress is not expected.
