The Bangladesh government has proposed putting an end to customs duty on coal imports into that country, as revealed by the Finance Minister of Bangladesh in his budget speech for 2016-17.
The move, if takes effect, will apparently prove to be a boon for Coal India Limited (CIL), as it has been planning exporting coal to the neighboring country.
The proposed move is aimed at easing coal imports to power producers in Bangladesh.
Coal consumption is going to rise substantially in Bangladesh as government there is in the process of increasing power generation, and at the same time, laying stress on usage of coal over other fuels for generating power.
Generation of additional 16,086 MW of power is targeted by 2021, according to the minister during the budget speech. He also disclosed that 29 power plants with the combined capacity of 7,296 MW is currently being in the process of installation; while, tendering process for 20 power plants with the cumulative capacity of 6,681 MW is also going on. Moreover, setting up of 8 power plants is also being planned, according to the minister.
Demand for coal will thus go up substantially in the future that will call for more imports. The annual demand for coal in that country is at around 4.5 MnT, out of which 3.5 MnT is catered through imports of Indonesian coal, and the rest is catered through imports from India.
CIL has been working on a plan to export coal to Bangladesh, and the proposed initiative of the Bangladesh government to improve coal supply is expected to help CIL to establish a foothold in that country.
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