The government will not allow setting up factories outside the planned area. The Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources has started implementing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's directives to protect the country's agricultural land and to ensure uninterrupted electricity to the industry.
The government wants to supply electricity and gas connection to new industries only in industrial zones, while out of industrial zones, supply is uncertain, an official of the energy division said.
Sources said huge amount of agricultural land is being destroyed for setting up industries in unplanned areas. On the other hand, the government is setting up a planned industrial park.
The government is going to pass a new law discouraging unplanned industrialisation that may harm farmlands and the environment.
According to Power division, there are around 2.30 lakh electricity connections for industry across the country. Of these only 4,905 are in planned industrial areas. As a result, the power distribution company is facing a difficult challenge to provide uninterrupted electricity supply to the industry. Electricity is being supplied to everyone through the same distribution line. Although there are double distribution lines for few factories somewhere, the quantity is very low. If industrial establishments are set up in certain areas, infrastructure will be constructed to supply electricity to them separately. It is being considered to provide electricity connection in N-minus one process for industrial establishments in the planned area. In this method, if one distribution line is switched off, another distribution line will automatically start to supply of electricity.
A meeting was held on October 20 last year, presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. In that meeting, the Prime Minister directed the authorities concerned to discourage the setting up of industrial factories everywhere. At the same time, instructions were given that not to provide gas and electricity facility in unplanned areas. On January 12, the Prime Minister's directive was informed in a letter to various organizations mentioning these issues.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Nasrul Hamid also said, the government will ensure uninterrupted gas and electricity supply at affordable electricity price for the industrialists in schematic industrial zones.
The minister called upon industrialists to invest in the Economic Zones. He said in a meeting recently, “Industrialists establish factories in unplanned ways overnight to destroy crops and ask gas and electricity supply. It’s so difficult.”
“Gas and electricity can’t be availed in this way. If anyone wants to take uninterrupted gas and electricity he/she must build his/her factory in industrial areas only,” he added.
The government is now paying more attention in building industrial establishments in the planned areas. Tanneries were running their business for years after years at Hazaribagh in Dhaka. But all the tanneries were shifted to Savar, near Dhaka. The government has long-term plans to move the pharmaceutical, chemical and other industries to the designated places gradually.
Bangladesh Investment Development Authorities (BIDA) has decided to prohibit establishment of factories outside the industrial and economic zones under the new law.
In the second meeting of the BIDA's governing body on Thursday, State Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Hamid proposed to stop haphazard industrialisation.
The government wants to take factories in industrial zones. But there are some challenges. Connection cost is high due to set up of new infrastructure. Besides, there is anxiety of stealing and system loss. The major disadvantage is the actual required amount of gas and electricity is yet to known. So, it is sometimes difficult to provide uninterrupted gas and electricity.
According to directive of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, state-owned Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) was formed in 2010 to establish 100 economic zones by 2030. On the other hand, there are around 80 BSCIC industrial parks under Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation for small and medium enterprises in the country where around 6,000 industries are available. The country is now generating surplus of electricity. On the other hand the gas demand is increasing rapidly due to industrial and socio-economic development, which will reach 10,000mmcfd in 2041. However the domestic gas is depleting. In this situation, the government is planning to import more liquefied natural gas (LNG). Besides, gas exploration activities will continue in onshore and offshore, according to energy division official.
