Dhaka Bureau: Gas prices have increased again. Captive (large industries) increased from 16 to 30 rupees per unit and industrial sector from 12 to 30 rupees per unit.
The Department of Electricity, Energy and Mineral Resources issued a notification in this regard on Wednesday (January 18) at noon. It is mentioned in the notification that the new price of gas has been fixed with subsidy.
On January 12, the Ministry of Electricity, Energy and Mineral Resources issued a notification to increase the retail price of electricity by five percent at the consumer level. Within a week, the price of gas increased.
According to the notification, the price of gas has been increased from Tk 16 to Tk 30 per unit for industrially produced own power plants (captive). The price of gas used in the refinery remains unchanged at Tk 16 (per unit). The price of gas used in medium industries has been increased from 11 taka 78 paisa to 30 taka. The price of gas used in small and cottage industries has been increased from 10 taka 78 paisa to 30 taka. In the case of tea gardens, the price remains unchanged at 11 taka 93 paise. Commercial class customers used in hotel and restaurant sector will pay 30 taka 50 paisa per unit from February. Earlier they were paying 26 taka 64 paisa.
Before this, the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources held meetings with businessmen for the last few months regarding the gas crisis. Businessmen agreed to pay up to Tk 25 per unit gas price to save the industry despite the increase in production cost. But they want assurance of uninterrupted supply. They said, if the price of gas is not increased, the industrial sector will be destroyed. And if the price falls in the world market, the country will also have to adjust.
The current price of gas per unit for public and private power plants is 5 taka 2 paisa. The new price has been fixed at 14 rupees. It will increase the cost of power generation.
Two officials of the Power Development Board (PDB) said that the company is making losses even after increasing wholesale prices since last December. The government has allocated 17 thousand crores of subsidy this year. Even if we get all fuels including coal, fuel oil at the current price, the deficit of PDB may be Tk 40 thousand crores. Now that gas prices are rising, it will increase even more. Therefore, the price of electricity may increase again. More than 50 percent of the country’s electricity generation comes from gas-fired power plants.
