Bangladesh
Gas Price Gas becomes costlier: Tk 990 for single burner, Tk 1,080 for double burner
Own Correspondent, Dhaka, June 6: The government has increased the price of gas for retail consumers. The price of domesting single burner has been increased from Tk 950 to Tk 990 and domestic double burner has been increased from Tk 975 to Tk 1,080. However, the price of CNG has not increased. The new price is effective from June 1.
Abu Farooq, acting chairman of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), announced the new prices at a virtual conference on Sunday (June 5) afternoon. Commission members Maqbool E Ilahi Chowdhury, Bazlur Rahman and Kamruzzaman were also present there.
Abu Farooq said the current price of single burner has been increased from Tk 950 to Tk 990 and for double burner from Tk 975 to Tk 1,080. In the case of consumers using pre-paid meters, the price of gas has been increased from Tk 12.60 to Tk 18 per cubic meter and the price of gas used in fertilizer production has been increased from Tk 4.45 to Tk 16 per cubic meter. The price of CNG has remained unchanged at Tk 43.
He said that the price of gas has been increased by 259 percent in fertilizer production (the highest hike), 11.96 percent in large scale industries, 12 percent in electricity and 15.5 percent in captive. On an average, the price of gas has been increased by 22.78 percent.
The price of gas was increased earlier in 2019. At that time the wholesale price was fixed at Tk 12.60 per cubic meter. BERC had directed to sell at Tk 9.70 with subsidy. After Sunday's new announcement, the average price has been set at Tk 16.30.
The acting chairman of BERC said that various proposals came in January this year to reset the price of natural gas. The hearing was held on March 21-24. Post-hearing written comments were taken until April 7. After reviewing the hearing, the price has been increased at the retail consumer level as per the law.
Responding to a question from reporters, he said if the electricity tariff is increased from 4.45 to 5.02 paise, the price of electricity will increase to a tolerable level. It will be a maximum of 11 percent. After the Corona pandemic and Russia-Ukraine war, fuel prices and transportation costs have risen. However, due to the policy of the government, the economy of Bangladesh was not threatened. The Commission has closely monitored such situations. FBCCI and BKMEA are in favor of raising prices. However, it should not affect exports.
