Government is set to impose a new surcharge on the sale of oil, gas, coal, and stone for collecting capital to introduce a new ‘Social Development Fund (SDF) Policy-2025’ run by Petrobangla, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, or boards of relevant mining companies.
officials expect the fund to generate substantial annual revenue, a small surcharge of Tk 0.03 per cubic meter could yield around Tk 92 crore annually for research and development initiatives in energy sector.
in 2009, Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) directed the concerned authority to form Gas Development Fund (GDF) to finance exploration and development of Bangladesh’s gas sector, especially the gas exploration activity, unfortunately, it did not happen, it were diverted for other uses, including LNG imports, although people are paying Tk 0.46 surcharge per cubic meter of gas for the development of its own gas. ‘GDF was created for supporting domestic companies such as BAPEX, Sylhet Gas Field Company, and Bangladesh Gas Fields Company in expanding production,’ an official said. However, SDF will be financed from a share of the unit sale price of gas, oil, and minerals as determined periodically by the Energy and Mineral Resources Division and BERC.
the fund will also earn interest on accumulated capital, the official said quoting the draft of the policy.