Eight entities, both public and private, owe a staggering Tk8,500 crore in unpaid gas bills to the government, with Meghna Group alone responsible for Tk766 crore.
Despite repeated reminders, these entities, including Meghna Group, have failed to clear their dues, flouting regulations and holding back substantial payments solely related to gas consumption.
Officials indicate that Meghna Group has repeatedly resorted to corrupt practices to delay utility bill payments, allegedly leveraging its connections with the previous Awami League government.
Titas Gas, alongside Petrobangla and the Ministry of Energy, has intensified efforts to recover these dues and has warned of impending disconnections should the payments not be forthcoming.
Despite these efforts, officials see no immediate resolution to the mounting arrears.
According to a list from Titas Gas, Meghna Group’s subsidiary, Everest Power Generation Company Limited, has outstanding dues of Tk688.26 crore that have been unpaid for seven years, while Meghna Sugar Refinery Limited has accumulated unpaid bills amounting to Tk77.44 crore over the past four years.
Additionally, over Tk6,500 crore in arrears is owed by the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and independent power producers (IPP).
Meanwhile, four fertiliser factories under the Ministry of Industries – Jamuna, Ghorashal Polash, Urea, and Polash Urea Fertiliser Factories – have amassed unpaid dues of Tk770 crore.
United Power Generation Company also owes Tk481 crore in unpaid bills.
Titas officials have stated that after years of overdue bills, they have decided to take strict measures to recover the outstanding amounts.
Titas Gas authority is prepared to disconnect gas connections for those entities that do not comply with repeated requests for payment.
Shahnewaz Parvez, managing director of Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company, stated that the company is struggling to pay its dues to Petrobangla due to the large outstanding gas bills from both public and private entities. This, in turn, prevents Petrobangla from paying both local and import bills on time, resulting in penalties.
In light of this, Titas has requested that these entities settle their dues promptly, warning that they will be compelled to disconnect gas supplies according to contractual terms if the situation persists.
Attempts to contact Mostafa Kamal, chairman and managing director of Meghna Group of Industries, for comments on the unpaid dues were unsuccessful.
Meghna Group’s Deputy General Manager (DGM), Taslim Shahriar, also declined to comment on the matter to the media.
Petrobangla officials have confirmed that despite supplying substantial amounts of gas for electricity and fertiliser production, they are not receiving timely payments for these services.
As a result, Petrobangla’s gas supply operations have been severely affected due to the large amounts of unpaid bills in these two sectors.
Titas sources reveal that while gas bill arrears have reduced across the industrial, commercial, and residential sectors due to disconnection drives, the bulk of outstanding bills still lie with public and private gas-based power plants and fertiliser factories.
IPPs, which produce electricity using gas from Titas and supply it to BPDB, are also struggling to pay their gas bills due to BPDB’s outstanding dues.
Khandakar Mokammel Hossain, BPDB member (production), acknowledged the substantial amount owed in gas bills, adding that they cannot settle the total amount in one payment.
Instead, BPDB is paying a portion of the overdue bills each month, expressing optimism that the arrears will gradually decrease over time.
According to the Ministry of Power, gas-based power plants have a current capacity of 12,384 MW, accounting for 45% of the country’s total electricity production capacity.
A large portion of the total gas supply is allocated to these power plants.
Petrobangla reports that on Monday, a total of 2,845 million cubic feet of gas was supplied nationwide, with 938.5 million cubic feet allocated to gas-based power plants and 201 million cubic feet provided to fertiliser factories.
