"We have asked for more scrutiny of the power ministry proposal as it might cause problems for the subscribers," Finance and Planning Adviser Mirza Azizul Islam told reporters after the meeting.

He said the committee headed by Energy and Power Adviser Tapan Chowdhury would examine the possible effects of price rises and submit a detailed report.

"The gap between production and selling cost of power is widening, and the government has to provide huge subsidies for the power sector," the finance adviser said adding that the proposal sought to adjust the production cost and selling price and reduce the subsidies.

Power Adviser Tapan Chowdhury, who also attended the meeting, said his committee is likely to report back within a month. The present caretaker government has already increased the electricity tariffs by 5 percent with effect from March 1, 2007.

The advisory committee at yesterday's meeting de-listed six state-owned petroleum companies from the privatisation proposal. The companies left out are Padma Oil, Jamuna Oil, Meghna Petroleum, Liquefied Petrogas Company, Eastern Lubricant, and Standard Asiatic Company.

The meeting also decided to offload 30 percent shares of the companies in the stock market. These companies were put on the list of the Privatisation Commission for a sell-off during the BNP-led alliance government.

Sources said the power ministry submitted the proposal for another rise in power price in consultation with the finance ministry. The proposal was drawn up in the light of the donors' condition that different ventures will have to be turned profitable if the country is to receive their assistance for the development of power sector.

But the government policymakers fear that a further hike at this time would mean more trouble for the people who already face an increased cost of living, said sources.

"The government is in fact taking time by forming the committee and electricity price might be adjusted later in July," said an official seeking anonymity.

The power ministry proposed to increase per unit rate for electricity by Tk 0.45 in the next one year (in three phases) for users of all categories. It also suggested reviewing the price situation at least once a year.

The advisory committee on economic affairs also put off approving a proposal for withdrawing the limit to buying power from the independent power producers (IPP). According to the existing rules, the government can buy at the maximum 1,780 megawatts of power from the IPPs.

The ministry projects that the demand for power might be standing at 19,312 MW in 2025 and to meet that, it needs to produce at least 17,700 MW in addition to the existing capacity and the projects.

The sector needs an estimated $10.2 billion investment in electricity generation and another $1.5 billion in installation of transmission lines, says the power ministry projection.

It also said that the demand for power would be 5,569 MW by next year and to keep up with the demand the ministry would have to develop a capacity to produce around 2,000 MW more electricity within a year.

The power ministry suggested withdrawal of the ceiling on buying power from IPPs as it believes the existing government initiatives are not enough to meet the demand.

"We will consider the proposal after reviewing possible impact on the budget and balance of payment," Mirza Aziz told reporters.

Meanwhile, two proposals of the food ministry got the seal of approval from the advisory committee. Of those, one seeks an exemption [for the ministry] from following the Public Procurement Rule 2003 in transporting imported wheat from Australia while the other wants the ministry not to require a performance guarantee from the state-owned BJMC in procuring one-crore pieces of jute bags from the organisation.

The meeting also approved a shipping ministry proposal for forming a committee to deal with the Operation and Maintenance of the New Mooring Container Terminal project.