Corruption sinks energy sector, making public welfare only way out

Apart from the agriculture, livelihood and household suffering, the ongoing gas and power crisis has crippled the industrial sector of Bangladesh.

Thousands of workers were laid off or temporarily suspended as factories have postponed their production due to the acute gas and power crisis in different areas across the country.

Sources said at least 2,602 workers were temporarily suspended from jobs in different factories in the Ashulia and Savar areas recently.

Besides, about 450 dyeing factories have closed in Narayanganj, while several hundred RMG and knitwear factories have also temporarily suspended production and laid off workers.

Bangladesh Knit Dyeing Owners Association Vice-President Naisr Uddin said, “At least 152 factories are at risk of being closed due to the gas and energy crisis.”

In Mymensingh, at least 20 factories have sent their workers on vacation for the same reason.

In Chattogram, 50 factories were permanently and temporarily closed due to the energy crisis. About 530 workers were announced laid off, while about 7,862 workers are at risk of becoming unemployed.

What is behind the crisis

Experts said, apparently, the war was blamed for the ongoing energy crisis in Bangladesh. Besides, the fire on July 21, 2026, at Excelerate Energy's floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) off Moheshkhali also added to the crisis.

But they said the deep-rooted problems lie in the corruption of bureaucrats and the apathy of policymakers and the government, which created the long-term crisis.

Experts and stakeholders said the crisis began after the service sector gradually shifted to a profit-earning segment of the government.

After turning the sector into a profit-earning one, the related officials created one way after another of making money from the sector, including through corruption and irregularities.

A section of dishonest officials pushed the government to make the sector nearly completely import-dependent, as making illegal money is easy in this process.

As per their suggestions, a number of gas wells and gas fields were declared closed or suspended, saying there was no pressure of natural gas.

But the experts said appropriate workover using compressors could further increase production from most of those gas fields.

They said that since 2009, the energy sector has constantly become a profitable segment of the government instead of staying as a service sector.

Energy experts and consumer rights advocates said when the energy sector was transformed from a public welfare-based service sector to a commercial sector, the way for plundering opened and the anarchy started.

They said, particularly when bureaucrats and political policymakers transformed all stages of the production, importing and distribution of power and energy into profitable instead of welfare-based and non-profitable sections, it became a commercial part of the government.

In this context, stakeholders said bureaucrats, political leaders and businesspeople jointly made the sector a way of plundering by hiking the prices of power and gas to make more and more money.

While implementing the ‘cost-plus’ policy in the power and energy sector, it became a profitable or commercial sector, experts said.

Scenario of natural gas

Sources said there is a demand for 3,800 to 4,000 million cubic feet of natural gas in the country every day now.

The country is now producing, on average, 1,600 to 1,700 million cubic feet of gas in its own gas fields and gas wells, including the Titas, Bibiyana, Bhola, Sylhet and Kailashtila regions.

It also supplies 700 to 800 million cubic feet of gas to the national grid from imported liquefied natural gas (LNG).

A total of 2,300 to 2,700 million cubic feet of gas is now being provided to the national grid every day.

The country now faces a gas deficit of 1,100 to 1,200 million cubic feet every day. As per official data, a total of 253 gas wells have been drilled so far in the country.

Among these, 70 wells are in production, while 98 of those remain suspended or closed due to different reasons.

Official sources said 67 of those suspended wells have the potential to resume production through workover.

There are chances to work over or re-drill the remaining 31 gas wells, officials said.

Experts said that after conducting workover or re-drilling properly, at least 220 million to 230 million cubic feet of gas can be added to the national grid every day only from these few closed wells. But drilling more gas fields could lead to surplus production, as there is huge potential for natural gas in offshore and onshore fields.

What is the scenario of power now

Sources said daily electricity demand in the country stands at around 16,600 megawatts, while generation ranges between 14,300MW and 14,500MW.

As a result, the country faces a daily power deficit of around 2,000MW to 2,300MW, leading to load-shedding due to the ongoing gas and energy crisis.

Potentials in Solar

Bangladesh currently has an installed solar power generation capacity of around 1,450.67MW to 1,451MW.

The government has set a target of generating 10,000MW of electricity from solar power within the next five years.

Under the plan, Bangladesh aims to generate 5,500MW of rooftop-based solar power and 4,500MW from ground-mounted solar projects by 2030.

Several studies have identified significant potential for solar power generation in Bangladesh, estimating the country’s solar power generation potential at around 50,174MW.

What business people said

Businesspeople expressed their anxiety over the current state of the power and energy sector.

When contacted, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) former President Ashraf Ahmed told Asia Post, “The present energy crisis resolution requires rebuilding strategic reserves of oil and coal sufficient to absorb supply disruptions, seasonal fluctuations and temporary interruptions in imports.”

He said Bangladesh already has substantial heavy fuel oil (HFO) and coal-fired generation capacity. Building adequate fuel inventories is primarily a financing and supply-chain issue and, with the necessary foreign-exchange and working-capital arrangements, can be achieved within months.

The business leader also said it is misleading to suggest that import dependence itself created the crisis.

Bangladesh simply does not have sufficient domestic primary energy resources at present to support the size of its present economy. The practical choices are therefore to import energy, dramatically expand alternative domestic energy sources, or accept lower industrial production and economic growth.

The issue, therefore, is not whether Bangladesh should import energy, but how to make those imports diversified, cost-effective, affordable and resilient, he said.

Meanwhile, Showkat Aziz Russell, chairman and managing director of Amber Group and also president of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), recently said in a television interview that five of his spinning mills have been closed due to the gas and power crisis and financial calamity.

He said that as the government said it may need two years to resolve the power and gas crisis, businessmen cannot provide wages to their workers without production.

What is the way out asper Experts

Experts and stakeholders said the only way of getting rid of the long-term crisis in the power and energy sector is to bring the sector back to the people’s welfare and service sector only.

They also said that there is no shortcut way to overcome the present crisis in the power and energy sector.

When contacted, eminent energy expert Professor Shamsul Alam told Asia Post, “Power and energy were public welfare-based sectors of the Bangladesh government. But day by day, a section of bureaucrats has made the non-profitable services a profit-earning and commercial sector.”

As a result, money-greedy people in the sector, ranging from government administrative officials to policymakers, created scope for plundering here.

They made the sector a money-making field by adopting different policies to favour their blueprint for corruption. They made the sector totally import-dependent instead of making it self-reliant.

As an example, the professor said that when they found the pressure of any gas well had become slightly lower, they suspended the well without further efforts for workover to produce more.

Their aim was only to pave the way for importing to make money.

Contacted, eminent energy expert Professor Dr Badrul Imam told Asia Post, “The government has to give utmost importance to exploring gas from its own fields right now.”

He said gas can solve most of the problems in this sector, as gas can be used to produce electricity and it is also a raw material for other things like fertilizer.

Eminent energy expert BD Rahmatullah also echoed the similar opinion.

The expert told Asia Post, “A section of money-greedy officials made the country import-oriented despite there being huge potential for gas exploration in our onshore and offshore blocks.”

He said the government should give importance to its own resources and explore more fields through strong seismic surveys.

Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) Vice-President S. M. Nazer Hossain told Asia Post, “The government has to bring back the energy sector as public welfare service. When the concern officials and other individuals find it as a non-profitable sector then scope of the corruption also can be contained.”

He said government has to priority to render service the people first, then ways of corruption also to be reduced.

The experts also suggested that the government eye solar power, as there is huge potential for it.

It is possible to set up sufficient solar panels within one month to produce solar power shortly.

They said the government has to attract the private sector as well to produce solar power to curb the ongoing crisis.

Government initiatives to overcome the crisis

The government has taken long-term, mid-term and short-term plans for a permanent solution to the crisis.

It has initiated international bidding for exploring oil and gas from deep-sea blocks. It plans to drill about 150 new gas wells within 2030-2031.

Besides, it has initiated the construction of a third floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) in Kutubjom in Maheshkhali, Cox’s Bazar, to be functional within 2028.

Under a government-to-government framework, the Chinese company China National Energy Engineering and Construction Company Limited (CNEE) has started the construction work.

The government also plans to diversify fuel-based power generation initiatives and focus on producing renewable energy.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Thursday (10 September) said in Parliament that the government is implementing an integrated action plan to pull the country out of the ongoing energy crisis caused by inadequate gas exploration over the years and dependence on imports.

"The energy sector was almost crippled by the plans adopted during the fascist government. The current energy crisis has resulted from years of inadequate domestic gas exploration and increasing dependence on imports," he said.

Government officials have said several times that it may need two years to end the crisis completely.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury have said the ongoing gas and power crisis may need two years to end.

Meanwhile, Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku and State Minister Anindya Islam Amit could not be reached when attempts were made to get their comments over cell phone.

They did not reply to the text messages sent to their mobile phones either.

Apart from these, the government is talking with stakeholders over searching way-out. As part of these, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Monday (14 September) sat a meeting with business people, experts and senior journalists.

In the meeting Tarique Rahman urged all to turs the government’s plan and be assured that through implementing the plans the gas and power crisis will be resolved.

After the meeting prime minister’s Adviser Mahdi Amin said the energy crisis in the mill-factories will be eased from Tuesday (15 September) as the government is trying to resolve the crisis by phase.