President of Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) Mohammad Ali Khokon has urged the government to withdraw the increased gas prices and return to the previous prices until uninterrupted gas supply is ensured.

The BTMA president also said that gas prices were increased last year upon promise from the government of ensuring steady gas supply, but the authorities could not supply gas uninterruptedly.

Under the current circumstances, he said they could go back to the previous price and once uninterrupted gas supply is ensured, then the gas price could be increased again.

The BTMA president said this while addressing a press conference held at a city hotel marking the holding of the four-day Dhaka International Textile and Garment Machinery Exhibition (DTG), an international exhibition of the textile and apparel sector.

The exhibition will begin on February 1 at International Convention Center Bashundhara (ICCB) and will continue till February 4. Prime Minister’s Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman F Rahman will inaugurate the exhibition. The exhibition will continue everyday from 12 noon to 8:00 pm.

Highlighting the scenario of availability of gas in the industries, the BTMA president mentioned that for a month or more, the average PSF of gas supplied to textile mills located in Chattogram, Savar, Ashulia, Gazipur, Araihazar and Narayanganj was between zero and 2.

He said gas supply remained suspended at BSCIC of Narayanganj and its surrounding areas for the last 15 days while due to lack of gas supply, the production of the mills is nearly zero.

Furthermore, Khokon said despite intermittent supply of gas, pressure fluctuations are causing damages to the mill machineries. “For that reason, it is not possible to supply the necessary yarn and fabric to the export-oriented garment industries,” he added.

The BTMA president also said that even if there is no gas, the mills have to pay a huge amount of money as the minimum gas bills. Due to gas shortage, boilers cannot be started while fabric processing remained suspended, he added.

He said due to lack of production, uncertainty has also loomed large over the timely payment of salaries to the workers.

Khokon also expressed his concern that if uninterrupted and quality supply of electricity and energy is not ensured, then it would be tough to attract new investment in the textile sector.

It was informed at the press conference that some 1,100 global companies that manufacture textile and garment machineries are participating in the exhibition. Some 1,600 booths have also been installed at the venue for these companies representing 32 countries.