Bangladesh wants to purchase more diesel from India

Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Iqbal Hassan Mahmood has said that gas supply from the damaged floating LNG terminal (FSRU) at Maheshkhali will resume by this afternoon (Thursday). He pointed out that the country's gas grid will return to its previous normal state within the next two to three days.

The minister disclosed this information while speaking to journalists at the Secretariat today, Thursday, in response to a question.

Iqbal Hassan Mahmood said that gas transmission would resume from this afternoon, after which gas pressure in areas where it had dropped would gradually improve, and the overall crisis would be overcome.
He assured that the supply situation would return to exactly what it was before the terminal was shut down.

The minister acknowledged that the gas crisis had disrupted power generation in various parts of the country, leading to increased load-shedding. He said without gas, ordinary people suffer, and gas-based power plants also get shut down. He added that once supply normalizes, the closed plants would be restarted.

Regarding ongoing criticism of the power and gas sectors, he said the situation was beyond people's control and was an unforeseen incident.

On the issue of complaints about "ghost" electricity bills, he said that in many cases, complainants do not approach the relevant authorities with their actual bills. He informed that electricity prices had been adjusted since June, and although temperatures in June were lower compared to March, many consumers' usage had increased.

He cited an example of an incident where a journalist on social media complained about receiving a bill of seven thousand taka instead of three and a half thousand taka. Later, an investigation revealed that the household was regularly using multiple electrical appliances, including two air conditioners and a refrigerator. The minister remarked that after using so many appliances, it should be considered whether a bill of seven thousand taka can be called abnormal.

Earlier, the Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Dinesh Trivedi, met with the minister. After the meeting, the minister said that a request had been made to import more diesel from India through the existing pipeline.

Speaking to journalists about the meeting, the Hassan said said it was a regular and routine meeting where various matters of mutual interest between the two countries were discussed.

In response to a question about whether the recent press conference of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was discussed during the meeting, the minister said he would not say anything about Sheikh Hasina, but commented that Sheikh Hasina had destroyed the country.