State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid on Tuesday said that the government wants the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to invest in a greater way in the energy and power sector in Bangladesh.

Welcoming a delegation of the Beijing – based multilateral development bank, he said, “We want the AIIB to play a greater role in the sectors.”

The delegation, led by Rajat Misra, Vice President of the AIIB, met the state minister at his ministry office .

Currently, Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), a state entity, has been implementing four transmission projects in the power sector with $956.41 million financial support from AIIB while another six projects worth $3068 million remain as proposals for the multilateral bank’s investment.   

The state minister said that there are huge investment opportunities in gas pipeline projects, underground transmission lines, modernisation of distribution lines, renewable energy, gas meters, storage systems, wind fuel and their sub-sectors.

“We want to provide quality and uninterrupted power supply. Want to the AIIB to be our partner in our journey of progress.”

He said the government wants to expedite its effort to increase per capita power to 1500 kilowatt hours (kWh) from the existing 602 kilowatt hours. This is a huge task which needs huge investment, he added.

Rajat Misra said Bangladesh is one of the partners of AIIB.

Commenting on the energy master plan and Rooppur nuclear power transmission system, he said, AIIB is working on development of a distribution system in Bangladesh.

During the meeting, the issues of privatisation of transmission systems, renewable energy, electricity import-export came up for discussion.

AIIB's Energy Specialist Haribhaskar Rangarajan and Senior Transport Specialist Farhad Ahmed, Energy Division’s Additional Secretary Md. Humayun Kabir and Power Division’s Additional Secretary Tania Khan were present during the meeting.