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Govt backs out of gas ration plan

Now self-monitoring to check misuse

Star Business Report
The government yesterday retreated from its plan to ration gas supply to industrial units as businesspeople agreed to introduce selfmonitoring in their factories to check misuse of gas.
The decision came after a closed door meeting between business leaders of different sectors and Chief Adviser's Special Assistant for die Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Dr M Tamim at his Secretariat office.
The government owned Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company served last month the owners of250 industrial units letters asking for cutting gas connection from their production units for 6 hours from 5pm to 11pm for the convenience of 'boro' cultivation.
Following the Titas' unilateral decision, the business leaders were demanding of the government to back out from die decision as the industrial plants are gas based.
BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association) President Anwar-Ul-Alam Chowdhury Parvez at a briefing after the meeting said businessmen were really frightened over the gas rationing issue.
He said gas rationing in the industry like textile is not possible since the country's both garment and knitwear industries are largely dependent on backward integration.
Parvez said the January export figure shows that knitwear sector registered a growth at 68 percent and woven 58 percent compared with that in the corresponding period of the last fiscal. The primary data on RMG expons
shows that it was hovering at 37 percent growth in February, he added.
The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) is expected to reveal the final export data of February soon.
T am hopeful that every member of my association will follow the decision that has been taken today (Thursday) both by the government and business leaders. We will try to prevent the waste of gas as it is our national resource,” he said.
As per the decision of yesterday's meeting, the association leaders are scheduled to submit a feedback report to the ministry concerned about their austerity measures with regard to gas consumption in the industrial plants within two weeks.
At the briefing, President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Fazlul Hoque said the government should not go for any austerity measures in the interest of uninterrupted industrial production as the country's lion's share of export earning come from the RMG sector, which is dependent on gas.
Abdul Hai barker, president of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), said had the government enforced its previous decision of saving 40 percent energy; the local textile entrepreneurs would have incurred a loss of Tkl20 crore per month.
Tamim said since the demand for gas and electricity is growing everyday the industry owners should be more responsible in their own interest.
"But, the earlier decision of gas rationing was not an enforcement, rather a letter of request to the businessmen on gas consumption," he clarified.