The government will require $40 billion or around Tk 3 lakh crore as investment for improving infrastructure in the transport and power sectors in the next five years, according to projections made in the 7th Five-Year Plan.
The General Economics Division of the planning ministry revealed the information at a consultative meeting on infrastructure development strategy of the seventh FYP for the fiscal year 2016-2020 at the ministry in the capital on Sunday.
At the meeting, experts said that the government would need much more investment for infrastructure development in line with the increasing demand in the country and the government would need to attract private investment in the sectors.
Both the government high ups and experts said that foreign direct investment along with domestic private investment was a must to achieve the target of the seventh FYP.
The government alone will not be able to arrange such a huge amount of financing for the infrastructure development, experts said.
According to the plan, financing worth around $20 billion or Tk 1.46 lakh crore will be needed for power generation, transmission and distribution by the government.
Another $10 billion investment will be needed for power generation by the private sector.
Over $19 billion or Tk 1.49 lakh crore will have to be allocated in the annual development programmes in the next five years for the transport sector that includes roads, railway, waterways and port development, it said.
M Tamim, head of the petroleum and mineral resources engineering department at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said that the government would need much more investment for power generation, transmission, distribution and other activities including gas exploration in coming years.
‘More than $50 billion will be needed by 2030 for the sectors,’ he said.
The FDI is a must for development of the energy and power sector against the backdrop of scarcity of domestic financing, he said.
He also suggested that the government should allow the international oil companies for exploration in the offshore areas and scrap fuel-based power plants.
State minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid said that the government should allow private investment in power transmission and distribution activities to meet the increasing demand for financing.
It will be tough for the government to finance all the $20 billion, he said adding that the financing might be arranged through the public-private partnership programme.
He also said that a strong political decision was needed on whether the government would extract coal or not.
Phasing out the captive power plants, reducing system loss in electricity and developing experienced professionals for the sector will be the major challenges in coming years, he said.
Transportation and road safety expert Md Shamsul Haque said that multimodal and integrated infrastructure for transportation should be the first priority in the plan.
Huge investment will be needed for the transport sector and the government should make the PPP programme functional to meet the financing requirement, he said adding that making such huge investment would not be possible for the government alone.
Quality infrastructure is also a must for saving the lives of people and country’s resources, he added.
Planning minister AHM Mustafa Kamal emphasised on constructing roads and highways with concrete to make those infrastructure long-lasting and to reduce wastage of public funds.
Local government, rural development and cooperative minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said the government would have to supply electricity to 100 per cent population of the country by the next three years by any means.
Developing multimodal transport system giving emphasis on waterways should also be top priority of the seventh FYP, he said adding that road safety would also be another important issue.
Housing and public works minister Mosharraf Hossain, state minister for finance and planning MA Mannan and GED member Shamsul Alam spoke, among others, at the meeting.
The General Economics Division of the planning ministry revealed the information at a consultative meeting on infrastructure development strategy of the seventh FYP for the fiscal year 2016-2020 at the ministry in the capital on Sunday.
At the meeting, experts said that the government would need much more investment for infrastructure development in line with the increasing demand in the country and the government would need to attract private investment in the sectors.
Both the government high ups and experts said that foreign direct investment along with domestic private investment was a must to achieve the target of the seventh FYP.
The government alone will not be able to arrange such a huge amount of financing for the infrastructure development, experts said.
According to the plan, financing worth around $20 billion or Tk 1.46 lakh crore will be needed for power generation, transmission and distribution by the government.
Another $10 billion investment will be needed for power generation by the private sector.
Over $19 billion or Tk 1.49 lakh crore will have to be allocated in the annual development programmes in the next five years for the transport sector that includes roads, railway, waterways and port development, it said.
M Tamim, head of the petroleum and mineral resources engineering department at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, said that the government would need much more investment for power generation, transmission, distribution and other activities including gas exploration in coming years.
‘More than $50 billion will be needed by 2030 for the sectors,’ he said.
The FDI is a must for development of the energy and power sector against the backdrop of scarcity of domestic financing, he said.
He also suggested that the government should allow the international oil companies for exploration in the offshore areas and scrap fuel-based power plants.
State minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid said that the government should allow private investment in power transmission and distribution activities to meet the increasing demand for financing.
It will be tough for the government to finance all the $20 billion, he said adding that the financing might be arranged through the public-private partnership programme.
He also said that a strong political decision was needed on whether the government would extract coal or not.
Phasing out the captive power plants, reducing system loss in electricity and developing experienced professionals for the sector will be the major challenges in coming years, he said.
Transportation and road safety expert Md Shamsul Haque said that multimodal and integrated infrastructure for transportation should be the first priority in the plan.
Huge investment will be needed for the transport sector and the government should make the PPP programme functional to meet the financing requirement, he said adding that making such huge investment would not be possible for the government alone.
Quality infrastructure is also a must for saving the lives of people and country’s resources, he added.
Planning minister AHM Mustafa Kamal emphasised on constructing roads and highways with concrete to make those infrastructure long-lasting and to reduce wastage of public funds.
Local government, rural development and cooperative minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said the government would have to supply electricity to 100 per cent population of the country by the next three years by any means.
Developing multimodal transport system giving emphasis on waterways should also be top priority of the seventh FYP, he said adding that road safety would also be another important issue.
Housing and public works minister Mosharraf Hossain, state minister for finance and planning MA Mannan and GED member Shamsul Alam spoke, among others, at the meeting.
Source: New Age
Out of this amount, how much are allocated for the politicians?
We know very well that their pockets need to be filled up first with kickbacks, approving Contracts to poor quality Contractors etc.
Until and unless these stealing of Tenders, under table kickbacks, looting Public money stops, even trillions of dollars will not be of any help in this corruption laden country.
I just don’t know anymore!!