Government fertilizer factories have been unable to pay the increased gas price for more than a year due to financial constraints.
If they pay the extra price, they will lose Tk 10,000 per tonne.
However, a loss of Tk 35,000 per tonne is being incurred on importing the fertiliser.
This is causing loss of valuable hard currency US Dollars to the government. Although the government is subsidizing imports to meet the deficit, it is not subsidizing production.
Sources in the Energy and Mineral Resources Division indicate that as of last April, fertilizer factories owed gas bills of Tk 12.11 billion.
At that time another three months passed. The matter has been referred to the Prime Minister’s Office to remove the complexities of bill collection. The Prime Minister has issued instructions to collect gas bills at increased prices. After this, in June, the Department of Energy told this to the Ministry of Industry through a letter.
The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) raised the price of gas for all consumer categories in June last year after a public hearing.
In particular, the gas used in fertilizer factories saw a significant increase – about 260 percent. The price was set at Tk 16, up from the previous rate of Tk 4.45 per unit. However, even after more than a year, the state-owned fertilizer factories have not fixed the additional price.