No new household gas connection, says Nasrul

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has said that the government has no plan to resume providing connections of natural gas to households in the future.

"We've kept suspended providing gas connections for household use. We have no plan to resume providing the connections in the future," he told Parliament on Wednesday, replying to a supplementary question from an MP.

The state minister said there is some 700-km illegal gas connection in the country and the government wants to sever those, reports UNB.

Noting that the government has already taken a number of measures against the illegal gas connections, he sought cooperation from local MPs to cut down the illegal connections in their respective constituencies.

Nasrul Hamid suggested using liquefied petroleum (LPG) for household purposes, saying, "Now, LPG is available in 75 percent areas. LPG can easily be used for household purposes. It'll be the best if we go to LPG."

In reply to a starred question, he said the newly discovered gas field in Bhola will play a significant role in flourishing country's industries.

The primary reserve of the gas field is some 700 billion cubic feet, the state minister said, adding that Bangladesh will require some 42 trillion cubic feet gas till 2041.

Responding to an unstarred question, he said a total of 87 power plants having a total capacity of 8,594 MW were set up in the country from 2009 till October last.