The Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) on Monday demanded paying gas prices according to its 2022 prices until the scarcity issue was resolved.
They also said that the crisis has been continuing since last year and the production has downed by at least 50%. The situation of Narayanganj industrial hub is almost blackout and the pressure of gas in Savar, Gazipur and Ashulia hubs is around 1-2 PSI, which severely hindering the production.
Mohammad Ali Khokon, president of the BTMA, expressed his dissatisfaction while addressing a press conference regarding 18th Dhaka International Textile and Garment Machinery Exhibition (DTG) 2024 in the capital.
The government had revised gas prices at industrial level in January last year by hiking prices by 179% to adjust subsidies and reduce fiscal deficit.
Khokon also said that the government assured them that they would get uninterrupted gas supply once the price was hiked, but a year passed and to no avail.
“The government should sit with us to solve the issue. Until resolving the problem, the previous gas price of 2022 must return. Petrobangla has failed to address the gas issue,” he also lamented.
The price of gas used by large, medium, small, cottage and other industries was hiked from Tk11.98, Tk11.78, and Tk10.78 respectively, to Tk30 for all in the last year.
He also said that as the country was facing a severe gas shortage, the government should increase supply to industries from households and CNG stations.
They claimed that these users are burning 19% of gas from total supply, and it has an annual value of $8 billion. But if half of the gas is supplied to the industries, they can earn 4-5 fold in foreign currencies.
"The households and CNG can be run by LPG. But our machines are not capable of burning this. It needs natural gas,” he added.
Khokon said that households were burning 13% gas and CNGs 6%.
Regarding the weak economic situation, he blamed the Bangladesh Bank citing that the weak monetary policy of the central bank is responsible.
The four-day DTG will start on February 1 at the International Convention City, Bashundhara.
More to follow…
