Titas to install 25 lakh more pre-paid meters

Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company will install another 24.74 lakh pre-paid meters under four projects.

Of these, 16.49 lakh meters will be installed in Dhaka and Narayanganj cities, and the remaining 8.25 lakh in district towns where the company has operations.

The information was revealed in the company’s annual report for the financial year 2020-21.

The report said three of the four projects had been sent to the Planning Commission for scrutiny and ensuring foreign financing.

In Dhaka and Narayanganj, four lakh meters will be installed under the first project, 5.49 lakh under the second, and seven lakh under the third.

A Titas Gas official told The Business Post the three projects would cover all consumers in Dhaka and Narayanganj.

Meanwhile, a Tk 754 crore project is underway since 2015 to prevent gas wastage in the residential sector.

The project, which will run till 2022, is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Bangladesh government, and Titas Gas.

Under it, 4,500 meters were initially installed on a pilot basis in Mohammadpur and Lalmatia areas of Dhaka.

Two lakh meters have been installed in Dhaka so far.

In the second phase of the project, 1.2 lakh meters are being procured and installed.

Of these, 63,360 meters reached the country from Japan and 55,345 of those were installed till June this year.

The number of residential consumers of Titas Gas in the fiscal year 2020-21 was 28,56,247.

The government in 2019 decided to permanently stop giving new residential gas connections. Giving such connections was closed since 2013 as per verbal instructions of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources.

The Titas Gas report said the company’s system loss was 2 per cent in the last financial year and the previous year. It was 5.71 per cent in FY19.

A total of 10,123 connections were disconnected due to illegal use of gas and outstanding bills in the last financial year, which was 3,911 in the previous fiscal year.

Titas Gas said it would take steps to reduce accidents by replacing old lines in Dhaka city, installing the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system, and modernising the system through geographic information system (GIS) mapping.

Besides, initiatives are being taken to let consumers pay bills through credit cards.

Meanwhile, to increase gas pressure in the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation industrial city in Dhaka’s Keraniganj, Titas Gas has announced the construction of a 20km line with a diameter of 20 inches instead of the existing eight-inch at a cost of Tk 50 crore.

In the last financial year, the company sold 15,858 MMCM of gas. Besides, its revenue increased by Tk 91 crore to Tk 17,922 crore while profit fell by Tk 14 crore to Tk 360 crore.

The listed company has proposed paying a 22 per cent cash dividend to its investors for the last financial year, which was approved at the annual general meeting on Thursday.

Its share price declined by 1.39 per cent to Tk 35.4 on Thursday.

In the last one year, its share price moved between Tk 30 and Tk 47.6.