The government is planning to import liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) through the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) to stabilise the domestic market and protect consumers from artificial shortages and price volatility.
The BPC has already sought approval to import LPG on a government-to-government (G2G) basis, sending a letter to the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources on 10 January.
Sources at the Energy Division and BPC said that since the country’s LPG market is now almost entirely dependent on the private sector, the government has no effective control over cylinder prices at the retail level. As a result, allegations of supply shortages and abnormal price hikes have persisted for a long time. In this context, BPC’s main objective is to restore balance to the market and tackle artificial shortages through government-initiated LPG imports.
In a letter sent to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, BPC Chairman Md Amin Ul Ahsan said that the market is currently experiencing an acute shortage of LPG cylinders along with abnormal price increases. Many private operators are unable to import LPG regularly due to various complications. Taking advantage of this situation, artificial shortages are being created in some areas.
The letter further said that if LPG is imported by the government, it can be supplied to the market quickly through private operators. This would give the government an effective control mechanism to help stabilize the market. However, as BPC does not have its own infrastructure, it has proposed carrying out the initiative by using the terminals and unloading facilities of private operators.
Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Adviser Muhammad Fauzul Kabir Khan said that the government is already assessing the possibility of importing LPG on a government-to-government (G2G) basis from various countries. He added that for the time being, the government will only take responsibility for importing LPG, while storage and bottling will remain in the hands of the private sector.
FP/MI
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