FBCCI seeks PM's directives on not increasing gas price over 57%

The apex body of businesses has sought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's directives to not increase the gas price over 57% for captive and other sectors instead of a maximum 179% hike announced recently.

In a letter on 25 January, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) also requested the prime minister to implement the new price from April.

On 18 January, the Energy and Mineral Resources Division announced the new gas price with a maximum 179% increase effective from February.

As per the announcement, the gas price increased from Tk5.02 to Tk14 per cubic metre for the power sector, from Tk16 to Tk30 per cubic metre for the captive power and from Tk10.78 to Tk30 per cubic metre for small industries.

The letter signed by FBCCI President Md Jashim Uddin said the operating cost of business has been increasing massively due to the hike in price of industrial raw materials and freight cost, an unprecedented increase in currency exchange rate following the Covid-19 outbreak and the Russia-Ukraine crisis.

It has become quite hard for the entrepreneurs to keep the factories afloat in this situation, they said.

Amid such a crisis, a record hike in gas price will push the industrial sector into a more adverse situation and operational cost of businesses will increase further, which would affect the capacity of the competitiveness of local and export oriented industries.

Therefore, the FBCCI proposed to set the gas price at Tk25 per cubic metre – a 57% hike from Tk16 per cubic metre – for the captive power.

They also requested the same percentage of gas price hike for the large, medium and small industries.

Instead of Tk30 per cubic meter, they requested to set the industrial gas price at Tk18 per cubic metre.

In the letter, they also said if their proposal is ignored and the authorities go with the latest price; it could harm Bangladesh's business competitiveness.