Reuters reported that Bangladesh will develop a coal field with its own expertise to save natural resources in the northern region of the country.

The report quoted Mr Rezaul Halim a senior manager of Petrobangla as saying that the state run Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation, or Petrobangla, will develop a coal mine at Dighipara in Dinajpur district, 350 kilometer northwest of the capital Dhaka. He added that "We have received a letter from the energy division to develop the coal mine.”

Mr Halim said that Bangladeshi firm Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited, a subsidiary of Petrobangla, was extracting coal at the Barapukuria field with technical assistance from a Chinese coal mining firm. He added that "We will also be able to develop and explore this coal field with such foreign technical assistance.”

Another senior energy official said that a number of foreign coal firms had shown interest in this field, but the government was eager to use Bangladeshi expertise.

The current coal reserve in the country's five coal fields was around 2.55 billion tonnes. Of them, the Phulbari coal field was awarded to the Asia Energy Corporation (Bangladesh), a sister firm of UK based GCM Resources PLC.