PDB incurs a loss of Tk 76,287 cr in 12 years

Buying electricity at high prices blamed

Golam Mostafa Jibon: The State Power Development Board (PDB) has been counting huge losses for more than a decade. The company has to pay a loss for buying electricity at a higher price and selling it at a lower price. To fill this gap, the Ministry of Finance first started giving loans to PDB. Later, direct donations started. In all, the subsidy in the power sector has stood at Tk 76,287 crore in about 12 years, relevant sources said.
PDB data revealed that, there is a deficit every year as electricity is being sold at a lower price than the average cost. The Ministry of Finance gave a loan to PDB for several years to fill this gap. The amount is Tk 43,160.12 crore. PDB has sent several letters to the finance ministry to convert the loan into equity as it cannot afford to repay it. Although, the issue has not yet been resolved, the Ministry of Finance started giving direct grants to PDB as subsidy from FY 2017-18 after several rounds of meetings. A total of Tk 33,126.47 crore has been given as grant till March of the current financial year.
According to the meeting, PDB started counting huge losses from the financial year 2010-11. In that financial year, the loss of the company stood at Tk 4,620.63 crore. At that year, PDB was given a subsidy of Tk 4,000 crore. In the next financial year 2011-12, the loss of PDB increased a lot to Tk 6,693.34 crore. To meet this, the company was given a subsidy of Tk 6,356.69 crore. However, in the financial year 2012-13, the loss of PDB decreased slightly and stood at Tk 5,043.84 crore. In order to fulfill that, the company was given a subsidy of Tk. 4,446.24 crore. In the next financial year 2013-14, the loss increased again to Tk 6,809.25 crore. In that financial year, the company was given a subsidy of Tk 6,100 crore.
PDB’s losses increased further in the financial year 2014-15. In that financial year, the loss of the company stood at Tk 7,282.99 crore. However, the company was given a subsidy of Tk 8,978.9 crore to make up for the losses incurred in that financial year, including the old deficit. In the financial year 2015-16, the loss of PDB decreased to Tk 3,873.75 crore. In that financial year, the company was given a subsidy of Tk 4,365.24 crore.
In the financial year 2016-17, the loss of PDB increased again to Tk 4,434.90 crore.
The company was given a subsidy of Tk 3,994.52 crore in that financial year. In the financial year 2017-18, the loss of PDB was a record Tk 8,353.95 crore. In that year, the subsidy in the power sector was five 5,485.81 crore. The subsidy was given as the first grant in that financial year. In the next financial year 2018-19, the loss decreased to Tk 8,141.34 crore. In that financial year, the company was given a subsidy of Tk 7,500.44 crore. In the financial year 2019-20, the loss of PDB was further reduced to Tk 7,448.63 crore. The subsidy was Tk 7,439.44 crore.
Meanwhile, the loss of PDB in the last financial year increased to a record 11,716.48 crore. In the last financial year, PDB received a net subsidy of Tk 8,944.80 crore. Meanwhile, in the nine months from July to March of the current financial year, the loss of PDB stood at around Tk 10,000 crore. At this time the company has been given a net subsidy of Tk 8,835.32 crore. Noted that, before the financial year 2010-11, the losses in the power sector were much less. As a result, the burden of subsidies was less at that time.