Titas Gas faces big challenges amid 7pc system loss

FE Team | Published: October 14, 2024 22:39:46

With 7 per cent system loss, the new management of the Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company PLC has been facing the biggest challenge in its service delivery, reports UNB.
"Some 7 per cent system loss means the organisation loses Tk 1.5-1.8 billion per month in revenue," said Shahnewaz Parvez, the new managing director of the Titas Gas PLC.
"It means, the state-owned gas distribution entity can save Tk 18-21.6 billion a year if such a huge system loss is checked," he told UNB.
Among the six gas distribution companies, Titas Gas has been the oldest and largest one both in terms of its operational area and volume of natural gas sales.
As per the official statistics, the Titas Gas alone holds 55 per cent of the gas market share while the other five companies have 45 per cent.
Titas Gas supplies gas to over 2.878 million consumers, including some 2.853 million household consumers, 12,078 commercial consumers, 5,429 industrial consumers, 1,755 captive power plants, and 396 CNG stations.
Its vast operational area covers Dhaka, Manikganj, Gazipur, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Narsingdi and Mymensingh.
It annually sells about 14,459.41 MMCM (million cubic metres) of gas (2021-23 fiscal year) to earn a revenue of Tk 263.87 billion.
After the fall of the Awami League regime, the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry also brought changes to Titas management as it was one of the 'most corrupt' organisations where the previous managing director, Harunor Rashid Mollah, was appointed on a contractual basis.
There have been widespread allegations that Mollah was involved in various corruption schemes who gave a huge financial benefit to former state minister Nasrul Hamid in exchange for his contractual appointment.
One of the major allegations against the previous management is that Mollah failed to take adequate action against illegal connections, leading to an increase in Titas Gas's system loss from 2 per cent in 2021-22 to 7 per cent in the 2024-25 fiscal year.
The new Managing Director, Shahnewaz Parvez, who previously served as the Managing Director of GTCL, another Petrobangla company, took action against illegal gas connections soon after assuming the office.
Within one month, he said, Titas Gas had disconnected over 4,000 household connections and more than 90 industrial connections, mostly in Keraniganj, Narayanganj, Munshiganj and Rupganj.
Official sources said Keraniganj was the parliamentary constituency of former state minister for power and energy Nasrul Hamid where the most illegal connections were found.
Titas Gas officials said the mainly politically influential persons, especially the local MPs of the ruling party, were the main promoters of the illegal gas connections.
As a result, on many occasions, Titas Gas officials came under attacks from the ruling party men when they conducted operations against the illegal gas connections at different areas. Shahnewaz said Titas Gas has to lose revenue of over Tk 50 million a day due to illegal gas connections.
"So, it's now our top priority to disconnect all illegal connections and remove the illegal gas pipelines," he said, adding that if illegal connections are snapped, it will play a good role in improving gas supply to many areas.