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New gas connections to industries by April

Staff Correspondent
The government will resume giving gas connections to industrial units in a month or two, said prime minister's energy adviser Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury yesterday.
New gas connections had been stopped since June 2009 due to inadequate supply from wells. As a result, running industries have been experiencing
gas shortages while many new factories are still waiting to start operation.
"We are now able to collect 50MMcf (million cubic feet) of gas from small gas fields across the country which paved the way for increased gas supply and new industrial connections from March or April,” said Tawfiq.
He was speaking as the guest of honour at the regular roundtable on the state of economy organised by Board of Investment at its office in the capital.
Tawfiq said state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Ltd (Bapex) would start drilling in three new gas fields — Srikail, Kapasia and Sunetra — from next month to enhance gas supply to the national grid.
He said the government is also devising a policy to supply uninterrupted electricity to industrial units through separate lines.
The government has also removed all restrictions to new power connections and customers can now submit applications for connections online, addedTawfiq.
Domestic and foreign investment flow in the country remained stagnant over the last few years due to gas and power crises and the scarcity of land for setting up industries, said entrepreneurs attheroundtableyesterday.
They said they are facing trouble in the operations of factories due to inadequate supply of gas and electricity.
Many factories which were constructed earlier could not go into operations for the lack of gas and power connections. As a result, the flow of investment remained stagnant at 24 percent over the last fewyears, the Board of Investment officials said.
Abdul Matlub Ahmed, chairman of Nitol-Niloy Group, said Indian Arvind Group could not go into production due to lack of gas and power, although the group had signed an agreement with his group two years ago to set up a joint-venture factory at Comilla Export Processing Zone.
He also said the government should ensure three important things—gas, power and industrial land--for attracting both domestic and foreign investments in the country.