CHITTAGONG, Feb 28: The businesses and industries in Chittagong will get supply of LNG from the first week of May this year.
The liquefied natural gas (LNG) will start arriving from April 25.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the gas supply on the same day.
Regarding the LNG price the businesses have nothing to be worried as the government will try its best to keep the price at the tolerable level at the uniform rate for all customers throughout the country.
Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Advisor to the Prime Minister Dr Tawfiq-E-Elahi said this at the view exchange meeting with the directors of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry(CCCI) and other businesses and industrialists of the port city at the Bangabandhu Conference Hall of the World Trade Centre this evening.
The Advisor said the businesses and industrialists will get the first priority in the supply of the imported LNG as they have been suffering from the gas crisis since 2009.
The work of LNG gas pipeline construction from Anwara to Fouzderhat in Chittagong is also at the final stag, he said.
Presided over by the President of the CCCI Mahbubul Alam the view exchange meeting was also addressed by Additional Secretary of the Energy and Mineral Resources Division and chairman of the Management Board of the Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Ltd Md Zakir Hossain and Chairman of the Petrobangla Abul Mansur Md Foyez Ullah.
In his welcome address, CCCI President Mahbubul Alam gave a detailed picture of the plights of the Chittagong businesses and industries due to gas crisis since 2009.
He said that Bangladesh government aims at achieving the goal of elevating to the middle income status country by 2021 and a developed country by 2041.
For this adequate supply of gas and power is very important towards achieving that goal and the businesses and industrialists in the private sector will play a very important role in this regard.
The country is getting only 2700 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) from the local gas fields but the demand is much higher, he said.
He further said we are happy to learn that the government has initiated a number of projects for LNG terminal and pipeline construction to ensure smooth gas supply in the coming days which will help grow up industries and the special economic zones in the country.
As per government target the total gas demand will stand at 6000 mmcfd by 2022 and 10, 000 mmcfd by 2030. On the other hand, our gas reserve is reducing alarmingly. So, the country needs to take long term plans to meet the growing demand of gas in the country, he said.
He also emphasised on the fixing of gas rate very considerably and at the uniform rate for all businesses and industries throughout the country and not fixing the price for any single area.
Business leaders including former CCCI president Engineer Ali Ahmed, BGMEA leader Nasir Uddin Chowdhury, BSRM Chairman Alihussain Akbarali, Md Jashim Uddin of Confidence Cement, FBCCI representative Mahfuzul Huq Shah, Dr Moinul Islam Mahmud, CCCI vice president Syed Jamal Ahmed, among others, also spoke on the occasion.
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