Dhaka, Feb 9 (UNB) - Industries Minister Dilip Barua Tuesday said ensuring power and gas supply as per the demand has become a major challenge to the government despite its all-out efforts to tackle it.

The Industries Minister made the remarks at a roundtable titled ‘Energy Efficiency Roadmap’ at the city’s CIRDAP auditorium.

The speakers, however, emphasized the need for putting in place a cost effective tariff for power and gas in the country.

They said the gas and power tariffs should be market-based and the government needs to move forward to introduce market-based tariffs for power and gas.

Barua said the government has taken initiatives to develop the country’s power and energy sector to accelerate economic progress and thus materialize the vision to build digital Bangladesh by 2021.

He said local and foreign investments depend on adequate supply of power and gas, and to ensure that the government would distribute energy-saving bulbs among electricity consumers to save power.

Power & Energy, a fortnightly magazine, organized the function. It was addressed, among others, by Power Secretary Abul Kalam Azad, Power Development Board (PDB Chairman ASM Alamgir Kabir, Petrobangla Chairman Hossain Mansur and BUET Professor Dr. Izaj Hossain.

The power secretary said the government has been working to bring the vexing load-shedding to a zero level by 2014. “As part of our move, we’ve already moved for setting up power plants which will be diversified on fuel basis so that our dependence on gas could be reduced.”