DESA (Dhaka Electricity Supply Authority)  established on 1 October 1991 by a presidential ordinance. It works as an autonomous body and its objectives are to improve service of electricity to the consumers, improve transmission, and reduce system loss. Before setting up DESA, the power development board suffered a system loss of 45%. After DESA came into being the loss was brought down substantially. In 2000, the system loss was 26%, which was, however, still much higher than the average rate considered acceptable elsewhere in the world.

DESA is run by a board comprising a chairman and 3 members. The chairman is of the rank of a joint secretary to the government. DESA has a total manpower of 6,500. It operates into 2 zones (south and north), each under a general manager. DESA's administrative section has 35 officers; its accounts section has a manpower of 140; and its engineering section has 26 executive engineers and 250 assistant engineers.

DESA has no power generation system of its own. It buys power from PDB at Tk 1.51 per unit and sells it at Tk 2.40 per unit. DESA alone draws 55% of the country's total generation. It has the capacity to distribute up to 11 megawatts of power. It supplies power directly to Dhaka City Corporation, Tongi, narayanganj, and also to the Rural Power Societies of gazipur, narsingdi and munshiganj. It has set up a new subsidiary DESCO (Dhaka Electricity Supply Company) to supply power to the Mirpur area. DESCO buys power from DESA and supplies it to consumers.

According to DESA, the demand for power in Dhaka city increases by around 10% a year. As the supply is not adequate to meet the demand in the city, it has become necessary for it to resort to load shedding. To reduce system loss, DESA started installing modern digital metres. Already 10,000 metres have been installed. This raised revenue earnings by Tk 1,100 million. Another 30,000 digital metres made in Bulgaria are being installed to bring the entire area under this system. Nevertheless DESA continues to run at a loss. Its unrealised revenue amounted to Tk 15 billion in 2001 and the major defaulters included different government offices, adamjee jute mills, hospitals and educational institutions, baitul mukarram mosque, and Dhaka City Corporation. [Sadat Ullah Khan]