Economic Reporter :
Abul Kalam Bhuiyan, a distinguished business icon, serves as the President of the Electricity Smart Meter Manufacturing Association and holds pivotal roles as the Managing Director and CEO of Eastern Meter and Jamuna Meter Industries.
Known for his foresight and polite demeanour, Abul Kalam Bhuiyan also chairs the FBCCI Backward Linkage Industries committee and serves as a Director of the Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI), having previously contributed as a Director of the SME Foundation.
In a recent conversation with The New Nation, the visionary leader emphasised various critical issues, including the significant role of prepaid meter in revolutionising the power sector.
He highlighted Eastern Meter ‘s substantial contributions to Bangladesh’s power sector, underscoring the government’s vision to reduce electricity system losses through prepaid metering.
In 2009, the government brought up the issue of introducing prepaid meters throughout the country in the power sector with the vision of reducing system losses to zero.
“We have upgraded the meter to the smart meter, while more than two or three companies are also working in this arena with Eastern Meter,” Abul Klam Bhuiyan said.
He said the clients of the power company will be the most beneficiaries using prepaid meter s, while the government will also benefit.
He described that system loss is now climbing down to one digit for the prepaid meter, while once it was 47 percent in Bangladesh.
The prepayment meter, “I was using so far has been upgraded to a smart prepaid meter,” adding a new version of technology.
The business leader said smart prepaid meters will contribute to building smart Bangladesh, which the government has initiated.
“I am grateful to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who gifted us the digital Bangladesh and is now initiating to make the country smart,” Abul Kalam Bhuiyan said.
He said using smart prepayment meter s to build a smart Bangladesh will be easier.
The MD of Eastern Meter said that there are double benefits to using the prepaid meter. Number one, the clients will get rid of harassment using the prepaid meter , as there is no scope to use more electricity than it has been preloaded.
The second benefit is that the government is getting the money as an advance payment, which is very important.
It has made the electricity distribution system more smart. “A transformer has 200 kilowatts of electricity, which will be divided among the clients. It has become easier now with the prepaid meters. The distributing companies can now distribute the load of electricity as per the prepaid meter s,” he said.
“Earlier, a client could consume 10 kilowatts of electricity after taking a load of only five kilos. As a result, the clients fell into an uneasy situation. They failed to maintain the extra cost of the additional use of power.”
“But the smart prepaid meter has stopped this hazardous. The smart prepaid meter left no scope for using any extra load than it had paid. There is no chance of loading one kilowatt of extra electricity through this meter. The will be stopped automatically after using its prepaid load,” the MD and CEO said.
He said that his company has been enlisted with PDB, DPDC, and DESCO and is in the process of enlisting with Pally Bidyut. It will be enlisted with the rest of the of the other distributing companies soon. He said system loss in the power is yet to be zero as several areas are due to do more.
He said the government has to add the private sector to its working spree in this sector as the private sector is contributing 87 percent of the national economy.
The MD and CEO mentioned that there are semi-smart and smart prepayment meter s his company is producing.
Replying to a query, he said the prices of the prepaid meter s are from Tk 5000 to 6500.
The business leader said he has introduced trade politics to contribute to the national economy with his utmost efforts and is now trying to make the SME sector vibrant.
He hailed the government’s effort in initiating the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, saying it is a symbol of smart Bangladesh.
He said there is enough electricity produced, while the distribution system has some faults yet.
He also praised the government for constructing the Padma Bridge, which was a great achievement.
He expressed hope of constructing a resort near the Padma River for visitors who want to spend a relaxing time viewing the scenery of the Padma Bridge.
It may be mentioned that his engagements extend widely across educational, sports, social, and cultural organisations, reflecting his multifaceted leadership.
Born in the village of Kukutia in the Srinagar upazila of Munshigonj, Abul Kalam Bhuiyan earned his Masters degree from Dhaka University.
He is a proud father of two daughters. His exceptional contributions to Bangladesh’s economic progress were recognised with the prestigious CIP award.