Short supply of energy -- both power and gas -- is taking its toll on production in the country's manufacturing sector, industry insiders and businesses say.
According to them, production in many manufacturing units is now well below their capacities in the absence of the required supply of energy.
They also say the country's industrial sector, which contributes nearly 20 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), experienced a slowdown in production in recent times due to the power and gas shortages.
The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) data shows there are over 0.24 million (2.4 lakh) manufacturing units in the country.
"It is true due to the shortage of gas and electricity the manufacturing units including large, small and medium ones, are utilising only 60 per cent of their overall capacity", Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) told the FE.
He said many entrepreneurs were running their industrial units with captive power, leading to an increase in the manufacturing cost by about 20 per cent.
The FBCCI chief also said manufacturing units, mostly bulk gas users producing glass and glassware, carpet and rugs, petroleum refinery, industrial chemicals, leather products, transport equipment, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, wood products, ceramic, cement and electronic goods also recorded a slow growth due to the energy shortage.
According to the Petrobangla (Bangladesh Oil, Gas & Mineral Corporation), the country produces around 2,313 million cubic feet (CF) of gas per day against the demand for around 3,000 million cubic feet.
On the other hand, the data available with the Power Cell under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources shows that presently the country's power generation capacity is around 7,000 megawatts (MW) per day, 40 per cent of which is supplied to the manufacturing sector.
However, the Power Cell does not have specific data on the actual demand for electricity in the country's industrial sector.
Mr Mahbub Alam, president of the Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI), told the FE: "Though most of the major industries are located in Chittagong, the supply of energy in the area is not satisfactory."
He said the daily gas supply in Chittagong was fluctuating between 200 and 250 million cubic feet against the actual demand for 420 million cubic feet per day.
Mr Mizanur Rahman Babul, vice chairman of Bangladesh Re-rolling Mills Association, told the FE: "The country's steel re-rolling mills are unable to utilise their full capacity due to the low pressure of gas."
He said the country's steel re-rolling mills had been utilising at best 60 per cent of their capacity for the last one year.
Mr Babul, also Managing Director of Rahman Steel Re-rolling Mills (Pvt) Ltd located at Narayanganj, said the political situation in 2013 had not been business-friendly and now they were not able to run their factories smoothly in the absence of required energy supply.
The steel re-rolling mills are the bulk gas users as production in such units depends on smooth gas supply.
But the industry was facing a shortage of gas, he said.
Mr Atiqul Islam, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), told the FE that due to the power shortage the manufacturing costs of ready-made garment (RMG) factories increased by about 20 per cent in the recent times.
He said still the RMG sector has been facing power shortage of around 30 per cent, as about 406mw electricity is being supplied by the government against the demand for 620 megawatts.
An additional amount of Tk 20 billion had been spent by the RMG unit owners last year because of the gas and electricity shortage, he added.
"Production in the textile industries has also fallen drastically due to the power and gas crunch", Jahangir Alamin, president of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), told the FE.
He said many textile units had remained idle in the last five years due to the gas crisis and presently some units were getting power supplies from generators running on diesel.
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