Bangladesh’s five coalfields hold just over 7,800 million tonnes of reserves. But only the Barapukuria mine in Dinajpur remains in production; the other four lie idle with extraction yet to begin.

The country runs coal-fired power plants with at least 7,000 MW of capacity. Supplying them forces the government to import coal worth at least BDT 150 billion each year. The Russia–Ukraine war, Middle East conflicts and other disruptions have periodically triggered severe financial strain and fuel-supply crises. Yet even as these pressures built, repeated calls to tap domestic coal reserves never led to a decision from Petrobangla, the state-owned energy company. Successive governments shied away from authorising extraction. Import dependence consequently deepened, leaving a vast resource stranded underground.

Experts say chronic indecision has been the fundamental obstacle over more than six decades since the coal was first discovered. Years slipped by in disputes over underground versus open-pit coal extraction methods, and in recurrent fears of environmental damage and interference by foreign firms. Consequently, the energy division pursued large-scale coal imports but failed to establish any effective mechanism for domestic extraction.

An internal energy division working paper estimates that extracting just 20 percent of the known reserves would yield 1,564 million tonnes of coal — enough to meet demand equivalent to 40 trillion cubic feet of gas. Petrobangla already imports huge volumes of liquefied natural gas, which accounts for a quarter of national gas demand. The government spent more than BDT 500 billion on LNG imports in the last fiscal year. Since 2018, the cumulative bill has exceeded BDT 2.5 trillion. A large part of that imported gas fuels the country’s power plants. Energy specialists argue that switching to locally mined coal would ease the strain on gas-fired stations, cut generation costs and slash the massive import bill for coal.

M Tamim, an energy specialist and a professor at the Independent University, argues that any final decision on domestic coal extraction hinges on an impartial study.

“We need a proper, honest examination of the entire extraction management by a third party with no vested interest,” he said. “If they conclude the risk is limited and manageable, we can proceed. If they say the risk is too high, we can abandon domestic extraction altogether. My point is that proposals must undergo an honest examination. We must not fear engineering challenges. No mega project in the world has ever been built without them.”

Dinajpur’s Barapukuria remains the country’s sole producing coalfield. Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited (BCMCL), a Petrobangla subsidiary, extracts roughly 950,000 tonnes a year from an estimated remaining reserve of 390 million tonnes. From the start of mining through the 2023–24 fiscal year, total output exceeded 11.61 million tonnes; and including FY 2024–25, it has now crossed 12.8 million tonnes.

The deepest coalfield lies at Jamalganj in Joypurhat, with seams between 640 and 1,158 metres. It holds 5,450 million tonnes of coal, discovered by the Geological Survey of Bangladesh in 1959. Although a feasibility study was completed, the state never decided on extraction. More than six decades later, Petrobangla still has not resolved whether to mine the field, which technology to deploy, or whether to enlist a foreign partner.

When contacted by Bonik Barta, a senior Petrobangla official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said past circumstances made discussion difficult. “Ultimately the decision on coal extraction must come from the state. Petrobangla can’t take it alone. The government has to move.”

Bangladesh has three further coal fields beyond Barapukuria and Jamalganj. The Dighipara deposit in Dinajpur, discovered in 1995, holds an estimated 865 million tonnes of coal. Khalaspir in Rangpur contains 685 million tonnes and Fulbari 572 million tonnes.

Feasibility studies have been completed for four of the country’s five coal mines. The energy division, however, has taken no final decision on any of them. Successive governments launched several initiatives over the studies, but none reached a conclusion.

Asked why the coal mines remains stranded despite such reserves, Maqbul-E-Elahi Chowdhury, an energy expert and former member (gas) of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission, told Bonik Barta: “From the start, the major constraint to coal extraction was a lack of technological capacity. Then there were environmental concerns. No one could decide how to extract the coal while safeguarding the ecosystem.”

He added: “Had a firm position been taken, the coal might have been extracted. Supplying it to the country’s coal-fired power plants would have slashed foreign currency outflows.”

The Dighipara field, identified by the Geological Survey of Bangladesh, was licensed to Petrobangla in 2005. The deposed Awami League government began development in 2018. Under the supervision of state-owned BCMCL, a consortium of two German firms and one Australian company carried out a feasibility study. The work spanned nearly three years; its report, submitted to Petrobangla in 2020, recommended underground mining.

The study pegged probable reserves at 706 million tonnes and envisaged extracting 3 million tonnes a year for 30 years — a cumulative 90 million tonnes of coal — at an estimated cost of $160 per tonne. Deeming the project excessively expensive, BCMCL asked DMT, a UK-based consultancy, to review the findings.

The Khalaspir coal field in Rangpur, discovered in 1989, holds 685 million tonnes of reserves according to BCMCL. GSB disputes that figure however, estimating only 143 million tonnes. More than three-and-a-half decades after the find, neither the energy division nor Petrobangla has taken a decision on extraction.

A final call on coal extraction from the Khalaspir field will follow the completion of a full feasibility study, Energy Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud told the Parliament on April 2. He was replying to a written question from Md Nurul Amin, the MP for Rangpur-6.

BHP Minerals discovered the Fulbari field in Dinajpur back in 1997. BCMCL pegs its reserves at 572 million tonnes. The agency calculates that developing the mine would require roughly $15 billion in capital and operating costs. If that investment were secured, the coal extracted could be worth around $83 billion at Barapukuria prices.

The extraction method at Fulbari has been debated for decades. Local opposition has been the strongest in particular. In 2006, protests against open-pit mining left three people dead and many wounded. Demonstrators argued that open-pit extraction would wreck local livelihoods, homes and the surrounding ecology. Under fierce public pressure, the authorities signed the “Fulbari agreement”.

After 2006, the project lay dormant for nearly two decades. Amid a worsening energy crisis, the former interim government moved to revive open-pit mining at the site. Energy specialists, economists and others then urged the unelected administration to refrain from such activity.

On March 11 last year, GCM Resources announced on its website a contract for Fulbari coal mining infrastructure construction with Power Construction Corporation of China, the giant known globally as PowerChina. The deal tasks PowerChina with developing the contentious Fulbari field in Dinajpur using open-pit methods and building a power plant of more than 6,500 megawatts. GCM’s subsidiary still operates in Bangladesh under the name Asia Energy Corporation.

Bangladesh possesses detailed data on its coal reserves, yet bureaucratic inertia has defeated any firm decision. Mortuza Ahmad Faruque, a former managing director of BAPEX who worked closely on a Jamalganj mine project, told Bonik Barta that political indecision and successive governments’ failure to take deep, determined action had blocked large‑scale extraction. The decision must come from the government, not any agency or company, he said, because even if Petrobangla or a private partner wished to proceed, neither could carry the initiative alone.