Two options to corporatise BPDB suggested

FE Team | Published: June 11, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

SM Jahangir
Experts have prescribed two options for giving the state-run Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) a corporate shape.
Under the first option, they have suggested creation of an operating holding company and transfer of BPDP's all people, assets, liabilities and contracts to it.
And, then the operations of the holding company could be transferred into subsidiaries and separated into 'single buyer'.
In the second option, the experts have recommended creation of a non-operating holding company and then transforming the BPDB operations into subsidiaries under a corporate structure.
Besides, the residual BPDB remains the single buyer, which can later be corporatised, an expert mentioned.
The said two options have initially been suggested by the experts of a New Zealand-based consultancy firm that is working on outlining a possible operational structure and business plans for the proposed BPDB corporatisation move.
Under a technical support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the P A Consultant took up the responsibility of preparing the PDB corporatisation guidelines in February last year.
After two months of suspension due to the country's recent political problems, the consultant resumed its work from March last, official sources said, adding that initially, it was given a one-year time for the task.
The consultant is expected to submit its draft BPDB Corporatisation Guideline next month, they said, adding the experts recently presented their initial findings before the senior officials of the Power Division and other relevant agencies.
Earlier, the government with the support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) initiated the move to give the BPD a corporate entity.
A broad-based business plan and operational structures for creating a holding company are, among others, high in the proposed BPDB corporatisation agenda.
The government had initiated the move to give the PDB a corporate structure under the ongoing reforms in the power sector, prescribed by multilateral donors - the ADB and the World Bank (WB).
The WB has also assured the government of providing credit support for the reforms initiative, the Power Division officials said.
"The reform programme aims to establish corporate cultures in the state-owned entities in order to make them operationally vibrant and commercially viable," said a senior official.
Under the reform initiative, all other sate-owned generation, distribution and transmission companies under the power sector are also to be corporatised in phases.
Besides, the PDB would be the owning holding company of other corporate entities under the power sector, officials mentioned.