Obviously this is a totally new arena for Bangladesh and the technology is not locally available. That said, the country is going through a serious foreign exchange (forex) crunch and one must wonder when every effort is being made to conserve foreign exchange, why such an ambitious training programme has been thought up that will further drain forex reserves and not enrich it. The project involves setting up of seven EV-charging stations and the question is, what need is there for "numerous foreign-training programmes and other less-important components". The issue must be looked into.
Going by the report, it is understood that these government agencies have outlined a very large expenditure on foreign training "to teach public servants about the EV charging and set aside a significant amount of funds for disbursement as honorarium." First of all, if foreign training is so required, it is the technical staff that must be the primary candidate for the lesson, not public servants. Concerned here is nothing less than operation and maintenance of EV infrastructure that will require only technical hands.
A look at the proposed heads of expenditure under which Tk 6.29 million has been earmarked for seven EV-charging stations, Tk 15.73 million kept for "hiring consultants, foreign training, honorarium and other less-important purposes" is enough to make the exercise questionable. This Tk 15+ million allocation will come out of the project funds and will demand an answer to the question whether the money is going to be well spent during a financial crisis in the country. Interestingly, the two agencies have taken a separate fund from the UNDP amounting to Tk 22.02 million as technical assistance for setting up the EV stations and training up requisite manpower. Since the UNDP is bankrolling the technical manpower training part, what is the point of allocating Tk 15 million for paid-up trips of non-technical staff to foreign lands?
The planning commission should definitely review the 'Bangladesh enabling electric vehicle Adoption (BEEVA)' in the framework of sustainable energy-based transportation). The agencies have proposed Tk 4.58 million for foreign training for 100 public servants, Tk 9.64 million for local training, Tk 0.8 million as "honorarium". Again Tk 7.49 million has been allocated for seminars, workshops and conference. Ancillary expenditure of renting vehicles, events, entertainment, etc. will eat up another Tk 8.0+ million. If this is the manner in which the country is going to embark on its "green" journey, then Bangladesh is in trouble. It appears that curtailing cost and saving public expenditure are not on the agenda. Rather, paid-up foreign trips are back on the cards.
Instead of making this an "all-public" affair, the government should open up the market for private sector participation. As we see in neighbouring India, charging station operators have partnered with EV manufacturers to set up infrastructure across that country. There Tata power has partnered with Jaguar Land Rover to set up charging stations for their EVs. This is a model that makes sense because Bangladesh has several EV companies that are in the process of setting up their plants in Bangladesh. They should be given the responsibility of setting up charging stations in collaboration with domestic petrol pumps.
Policies should be introduced whereby EV charging stations can make the best use of solar power to power their charging stations. This will reduce dependence on the national grid and reduce the carbon footprint. The government can make it mandatory for existing fuel stations to install EV charging stations, which will significantly reduce the cost of making EV stations from scratch, as it is still a nascent industry. This will save money and significantly increase and expedite EV charging facility rollout.
What is clear is that there is significant blowback pressure from existing vehicle operators in the country who would like to see that EV does not have a smooth sailing here. Again, given the inclination of the authorities to waste money on any new technology, it is hoped that public-private partnerships are encouraged to promote the development of EV charging infrastructure. It can provide the synergy in bringing together private sector resources and expertise that will help meet the EV infrastructure needs for public benefit. Foreign trainings should be foregone and instead, technology-transfer should be the way forward if Bangladesh hopes to become an EV powerhouse in the future. For EV to have a secure future in Bangladesh we need to train our manpower domestically - foreign training is not the answer.
mansur.thefinancialexpress@gmail.com