As of last April, government power generation and transmission companies owed Tk 10,391,430,000 to PDB. Private power generation companies owe 15 thousand 2 crore 43 lakh taka. 2 thousand 417 crore 64 lakh taka owed by the power generation plants set up in joint ventures.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid told the Parliament that 33 thousand 108 crores 99 lakhs are owed to the Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) by various power generation companies, including government and private.

As of last April, government power generation and transmission companies owed Tk 10,391,430,000 to PDB. Private power generation companies owe 15 thousand 2 crore 43 lakh taka. 2 thousand 417 crore 64 lakh taka owed by the power generation plants set up in joint ventures.

The state minister also said that various companies, including Adani, owe Tk 5,297 crore 47 lakhs to PDB for importing electricity from India. Yesterday (May 8) in the National Parliament, in response to a question of Awami League Member of Parliament Mamunur Rashid, the State Minister highlighted these facts about the outstanding dues of the power plants to PDB.

Nasrul Hamid said that the debt of private power generation companies (to banks) of Tk 17 thousand 553 crore has been recently paid by the government through bonds.

In response to another question in Parliament, the Minister of State for Power said that although there is no shortfall in power generation as per the demand, it is not possible to generate power at full capacity due to the Ukraine-Russia war and the global energy crisis after the Covid-19 pandemic. As a result, there is temporary difficulty in uninterrupted power supply in some places.

In response to a supplementary question of opposition chief whip Mujibul Haque, Nasrul Hamid said that there are some problems of electricity in greater Mymensingh. Two power stations of Jamalpur are closed.

Nasrul Hamid also said that a tender has already been called for extracting mineral resources in the deep sea. 17 companies including ExxonMobil, Chevron have expressed interest.

In response to another question, the Minister of State for Energy said that now the shortage of gas is 500 million cubic feet. However, they have not received any written complaint that no industrial establishment is getting gas.

He said that the government is trying to maintain uninterrupted gas supply to the industrial sector even though there is a problem of gas in homes.