No delayed gas, electricity bill payments without surcharge after June 30: Nasrul

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has said the time to pay delayed gas and electricity bills without surcharge will not be extended further after June 30.

He made the statement on Wednesday while briefing reporters through a videoconference about the allocation of his ministry in the upcoming national budget for FY2020-21, scheduled to be placed in parliament on Thursday. 

On March 22, just before the start of the government-declared closure to curb the spread of coronavirus, the power, energy and mineral resources ministry announced that household consumers will not be charged extra for delayed payment of gas bills until June this year due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Separate circulars from the Power Division and the Energy Division were issued in this regard.

Nasrul Hamid said it is now not possible to extend the deadline for delayed payment of bills without surcharges as his ministry could not afford it.

"It's not affordable anymore to allow delayed payment, whatever the situation," he said.

He also informed that the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources will have a proposed budget of Tk 30,736.38 crore in the coming fiscal 2020-21.   

The Power Division has proposed to have a total outlay of development budget of Tk 27,597.73 crore, of which Tk 24,803.93 crore will come from the finance ministry as budget allocation while ECA-financing is Tk 1,837 crore (foreign loan), and the Power Division itself will finance Tk 955.84 crore.

The Energy and Mineral Resources Division will have a total budget of Tk 3,138.65 crore, of which the allocation from the finance ministry is Tk 1,835.72 crore, while Tk 260.29 crore from Gas Development Fund (GDF), and Tk 1,042.74 crore from the Energy Division's self-financing.

The state minister also said the main focus of the Power Division will be on implementation of power transmission and distribution projects to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply, while the Energy Division's main focus will be on gas transmission pipeline construction and single point mooring line construction for petroleum fuel transportation.