RMG exporters seek 12-month instalments for Jul-Aug utility bills
The BKMEA says paying the July and August utility bills in full under existing rules would be difficult for many factory owners given the financial losses they had suffered.
Garment and textile industry owners, reeling from production losses caused by severe gas and electricity shortages, have sought permission to pay their July and August utility bills in 12 equal monthly instalments instead of making the payments in full within a single month.
The Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association requested this in a letter sent to Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood on 9 August.
Signed by BKMEA President Mohammad Hatem, the letter said gas and electricity shortages had severely disrupted industrial production during July and August.
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"Industrial output has been severely hampered due to gas and electricity shortages," the letter said, adding that gas supplies through open-cylinder and cascade-cylinder systems were also suspended, leaving many factories unable to maintain regular production.
To keep their factories running, owners were forced to purchase diesel, LPG and other alternative energy sources, incurring additional costs that were not included in their production budgets, according to the letter.
"As a result, they incurred financial losses," it said.
The association said paying the July and August utility bills in full under existing rules would be difficult for many factory owners given the financial losses they had suffered.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) is also planning to raise the issue with the government.
A senior BTMA official, speaking to TBS on condition of anonymity, said the BTMA and two other garment-sector associations are considering sending a joint letter to the ministry seeking the same facility.
Mosharaf Hossain, managing director of Mosharaf Composite Textile Mills Limited, said his factory had operated at only around 30% of capacity over the past two months because of inadequate gas supplies.
"During the last two months, we were able to produce only 30% of our capacity. But we still have to pay monthly gas bills worth Tk20 crore, as we did in previous months," he told TBS.
He said allowing factories to pay their bills in instalments would provide some relief to struggling manufacturers.
