Crunch time
Sunday, 8 May 2011
Mahmudur Rahman
The hike in fuel prices has to be the first time that any government has been able to get it through without literally any protests. Perhaps it was because the blow had been softened by careful prior notice and warnings from different quarters and the rise in international prices is all too real. Then again, the adjustment was relatively small-Tk. 2 per litre of every type and therefore easier for the general public to adjust to. And close on the heels came the revelation that the subsidy paid so far is weighed heavily towards the diesel, kerosene and types more used by the less affluent section of society and less for the more privileged section that utilises octane and petrol. The question really does beg whether that particular section should or could be hit again by a larger slice of subsidy balancing. Or maybe that is a step that will come after the conclusion of what now appears to be a debate over the wisdom of allowing private cars to enjoy the economic benefit of liquefied gas. The Adviser on Energy, who frankly is more in the thick of things than the state minister, has advised that new gas discoveries would almost certainly be utilised for industries rather than home consumption even if that does mean a significant dent in the affairs of the real estate sector that is sitting on completed homes without being able to handover due to lack of electrical and gas connection. Electricity prices have been hiked, not to the satisfaction of the World Bank and there will probably another hike in the not too distant future. That is the cost of getting quick power. But somewhere in between there remains some confusion. On the one hand the parliamentary committee on energy suggests that it will take ten years for the power crisis to be overcome and on the other the adviser has said the electricity situation would improve in leaps and bounds by the end of the year, the third of the present government in command. Then again we have a situation where the government will be looking to tie up with the private sector to generate captive power through their efforts, part of which will be bought off by the government. This appears to say that the government's international road show inviting foreign investment in the sector hasn't met with too much success. Not much is being heard of the progress of India's supply of power through a grid that was to have been set up. Diversion of power for the next cropping season is likely to be a certainty suggesting in more power outages for the cities and the continuing suffering for the smaller towns. To their credit and mostly due to the inexhaustible patience of the general public, power outage was tackled judiciously during the world cup, especially whenever Bangladesh was playing. System loss, as informed by the adviser is now a mere 13% and further steps are being taken to rein in this malpractice to the extent that the modified tempo that runs the side streets on electrically charged batteries may well have to be come off the road in order to save electricity consumption for all of its environment friendly operation. (The writer is a former head of corporate and regulatory affairs of British-American Tobacco Bangladesh and former CEO of Bangladesh Cricket Board. He can be reached at mahmudrahman@gmail.com)
The hike in fuel prices has to be the first time that any government has been able to get it through without literally any protests. Perhaps it was because the blow had been softened by careful prior notice and warnings from different quarters and the rise in international prices is all too real. Then again, the adjustment was relatively small-Tk. 2 per litre of every type and therefore easier for the general public to adjust to. And close on the heels came the revelation that the subsidy paid so far is weighed heavily towards the diesel, kerosene and types more used by the less affluent section of society and less for the more privileged section that utilises octane and petrol. The question really does beg whether that particular section should or could be hit again by a larger slice of subsidy balancing. Or maybe that is a step that will come after the conclusion of what now appears to be a debate over the wisdom of allowing private cars to enjoy the economic benefit of liquefied gas. The Adviser on Energy, who frankly is more in the thick of things than the state minister, has advised that new gas discoveries would almost certainly be utilised for industries rather than home consumption even if that does mean a significant dent in the affairs of the real estate sector that is sitting on completed homes without being able to handover due to lack of electrical and gas connection. Electricity prices have been hiked, not to the satisfaction of the World Bank and there will probably another hike in the not too distant future. That is the cost of getting quick power. But somewhere in between there remains some confusion. On the one hand the parliamentary committee on energy suggests that it will take ten years for the power crisis to be overcome and on the other the adviser has said the electricity situation would improve in leaps and bounds by the end of the year, the third of the present government in command. Then again we have a situation where the government will be looking to tie up with the private sector to generate captive power through their efforts, part of which will be bought off by the government. This appears to say that the government's international road show inviting foreign investment in the sector hasn't met with too much success. Not much is being heard of the progress of India's supply of power through a grid that was to have been set up. Diversion of power for the next cropping season is likely to be a certainty suggesting in more power outages for the cities and the continuing suffering for the smaller towns. To their credit and mostly due to the inexhaustible patience of the general public, power outage was tackled judiciously during the world cup, especially whenever Bangladesh was playing. System loss, as informed by the adviser is now a mere 13% and further steps are being taken to rein in this malpractice to the extent that the modified tempo that runs the side streets on electrically charged batteries may well have to be come off the road in order to save electricity consumption for all of its environment friendly operation. (The writer is a former head of corporate and regulatory affairs of British-American Tobacco Bangladesh and former CEO of Bangladesh Cricket Board. He can be reached at mahmudrahman@gmail.com)