Lower gas tariff to pre-hike level, BTMA demands

The Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) on Monday urged the government to revert the gas tariff to its pre-hike level.
The government had increased the gas price in January 2023 with the assurance of an uninterrupted energy supply.
The supply situation has not improved, rather deteriorated further this year, since the increase of the gas prices, BTMA President Mohammad Ali Khokon told a press conference at a city hotel.
"There is no improvement in the supplies," he said, adding that there has been a crisis since 2023, resulting in up to a 50 per cent decline in production while the situation deteriorates further this year.
He said the industrial hub of Narayanganj has been grappling with near blackout for the last 15 days as the gas supply to Narayanganj BSCIC and its surrounding areas remained suspended.
The average gas pressure in the mills located at Savar, Gazipur, Ashulia and Chattogram hubs has dropped to 0-2.0 PSI for the last one month and mills are currently running at 40 per cent of their production capacity, he explained.
Announcing the schedule of the 18th Dhaka International Textile and Garment Machinery Exhibition (DTG) 2024, the BTMA chief said the four-day event will begin on February 01 at the International Convention City, Basundhara in the capital.
He pointed out that due to the severe gas shortage, the machinery of textile mills are damaged and they are not being able to supply required yarn and fabric to the export-oriented garment industry, while fabric processing plants are closed as they can't run boilers.
Though Petrobangla had assured of an uninterrupted gas supply after the price hike, a year has passed since then but there is no improvement in gas supply situation, he said.
"The government should sit with us to solve the issue and return to the gas prices of 2022 until the supply problems are solved," Mr Ali said.
In January last year, the government set a gas tariff at a flat rate of Tk 30 per cubic metre for the industrial units of all sizes. For captive power plants, the tariff was Tk 16 per cubic metre in 2022.
Highlighting the severe gas shortage in the country, Mr Ali urged the government to prioritise supplying gas to industries over households and CNG stations as they (households and CNG) consume 19 per cent of the total gas supply, valued at US$ 8.0 billion annually.
He proposed redirecting half of this gas supply to industries and argued that it would potentially generate four to five times more foreign currency.
On the central bank's latest monetary policy, he said that it is not business-friendly, rather it would hold back the business growth.
He further said that there was hardly any fresh investment last year while uncertainty looms over future investment until uninterrupted and quality gas supply is ensured.
He, however, said the DTG will showcase energy-efficient technology that would help address the current problems.
BTMA, Chan Chao International Company Ltd and Yorkers Trade and Marketing Services Co. are jointly organising the exhibition to be participated by around 1100 textile and garment machinery producers from 32 countries.

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