Dhaka - Energy-starved Bangladesh on Friday night pushed forward the clock by an hour aiming at better utilization of daylight to save electricity, officials said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed released a special commemorative stamp to introduce daylight saving time from her official Jamuna residence at 11 pm (1700 GMT) when the clock turned to midnight across Bangladesh.

With the clock pushed ahead, Bangladesh will be seven-hour ahead of Greenwich Mean Time instead of six hours.

The daylight saving measure, introduced amid a massive awareness campaign by the Power Division, will remain in force until September 30, when the clock is to be set an hour back.

The daylight saving time will come into force from April 1 from the next year and remain in force six months every year, according to a government decision earlier this month.

The government estimated the new scheme would help save around 300 megawatt of electricity per day.

An average electricity shortfall of 1,000 megawatts is regularly reported in Bangladesh.(dpa)