Bangladesh ranks third among the top 20 countries where people lack access to electricity, according to a report of a World Bank-led multi-agency team.
The report titled ‘Global Tracking Framework Report’ published on Tuesday said until 2010, 66.6 million people, or 45 percent of the country’s population, were out of electricity.
However, Bangladesh government statistics say 60 percent of its population was brought under electricity coverage by the end of 2012, against 43 percent in 2009.
The government claims power generation increased to 8,525 megawatts last year from 4,941 megawatts four years earlier.
It says in the four years, electricity connections were given to 2.84 million new subscribers.
The report, first of its kind, said India is on the top of the list of power-starved countries with about 306.2 million of its people remaining out of electricity. Nigeria ranks second in the countries with its 82.4 million people lacking access to power.
According to the report, the number of Bangladeshi people under electricity coverage rose by 22 percentage points to 55 percent in two decades – from 1990 to 2010. It said only 43 percent of the rural inhabitants and 88 percent of the urban people were brought under electricity coverage until 2010.
The report showed in last 20 years, electrification rates were highest in 20 most populous countries, including 12 in Asia. Of the 1.7 billion people having access to power globally in these two decades, around 1.3 billion came from the 20 countries.
It said electricity coverage increased greatly in India, China, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh during that period.
The report said 80 percent of the people lacking power access live in rural areas.
Source: Bd news24
