Poor gas supply hits Gazipur RMG factories

An acute drop in gas pressure has caused serious interruption in production at several readymade garment factories in Gazipur.

Gazipur is one of Bangladesh’s leading industrial and garment hubs with more than 3,000 RMG factories.

Gas supply is critical for production since the industrial and commercial energy users convert it to generate captive power for their energy consumption, the garment owners sources said.

Among the factories, textile, spinning, weaving and fabric processing or yarn-producing factories in Gazipur municipality, Tongi, Boardbazar, Joydebpur, Shafipur, Kashimpur and Konabari have been greatly impacted by the gas crisis, local sources said.

Although gas pressure is expected to be 15 PSI per square foot, it has recently been fluctuating between 2 and 3 PSI. Factory owners said they have been losing production hours and incurring financial losses for over one year.

In this regard, Mirza Mahbub Hossain, public relations officer of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited, told The Business Post that production at Jalalabad and Bibiyana gas fields have been halted due to renovation work.

“Due to these problems, we are not getting proper supply of gas in the vicinity. Once they start producing the desired amount of gas, the crisis in Gazipur would mitigate,” said Mirza Mahbub.

He also said that the daily demand for gas is 2,200 mmcf. After the introduction of liquefied natural gas (LNG), Titas gets around 15,00-1,700 mmcf, which is sufficient to cover the demand fairly.

“However, due to the production halt in the respective gas fields, the gas supply has decreased to 1200 mmcf. Due to which, we are facing disruptions in Demra and Ghorashal supply lines which covers Joydebpur, Konabari, Tongi areas,” added Mirza.

According to the factory sources, the Titas Gas authority had served them a notice which stated that disruptions in the gas supply might occur from July 26 to July 28 in the area due to the renovation work. However, the problems have been going on since then, and Titas authority has not taken any measures to fix the problem.

“The gas pressure was so low in some places that production had been put on hold. In places where the pressure was a little bit high, factories could not run in full swing,” said Md Sarwarul Islam, deputy manager of Sattar Textile in the Konabari area.

“Most of these garments factories in Gazipur subscribe to the state-owned Titas for gas supply, and it is being very difficult to continue their production amid the gas crisis,” added Sarwar.

Meanwhile, Md Mofazzal Hossain, director of Tushoka Washing Factory in Tongi, said, “I could not run my factory properly since July 26 as the gas pressure varies between 2 to 3 PSI rather than the required 15 PSI.”

The factory owners told The Business Post that the gas crisis comes at a time when the factories just resumed operations after the Covid-19 induced restrictions were withdrawn, and they are getting massive amounts of orders from abroad.

However, if the gas crisis prevails, they will face a huge loss, affecting the country’s overall export earnings.

Md Fazlul Haque, vice president of Bangladesh Textiles Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BTMEA) and managing director of Ishraque Textile Mills, told The Business Post that some of the factories are on the verge of a collapse due to the inconsistency in the gas supply.

“We have sent a letter to the managing director of Titas to solve the problem, but they did not respond to us yet. We have arranged a meeting on September 14, and I hope we will find a solution soon,” said the BTMEA official.

Md Shahjada Farazi, deputy general manager of Titas’s Gazipur zone, told The Business Post that they do not have enough gas production to cover vast areas under Gazipur.

“We are trying to sort out ways to solve the problem. We also apologize to the people who are suffering for the disruptions in gas supply,” the Titas official said.