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The country’s compressed natural gas (CNG) filling station owners have demanded their commission on CNG sales be increased by Tk 5.10, or 63.75 per cent, per cubic metre, from the existing Tk 8.
Of the total hike demanded, Tk 1.60 per cubic metre is for adjusting losses from power tariff hikes on different occasions since 2015, and Tk 3.50 per cubic metre in consideration of current market prices, including inflation.
Bangladesh CNG Filling Station & Conversion Workshop Owners Association leader placed their demand during a press conference held in its office Sunday morning.
Speaking on the occasion, the association’s President Manoranjan Bhakta alleged that despite policy recommendations, the government has not adjusted the commission on CNG sales to cope with the rising power tariff since 2015.
CNG production costs from piped natural gas have increased by Tk 1.60 per cubic metre over the past decade since 2015, only due to power tariff hikes, he said.
Citing an example, the association’s Secretary General Farhan Noor said the power tariff of a CNG filling station was Tk 3.45 per unit (1 kilowatt-hour) in 2014, and now it stands at Tk 5.04 per unit after several hikes.
CNG sales at the filling stations have also dropped significantly over the past decade, he said, adding that a CNG filling station that would sell around 96,093 cubic metres of CNG in 2015 currently sells around 66,718 cubic metres.
A CNG filling station would attain a profit of Tk 3.54 after selling CNG to commoners at Tk 30 per cubic metre in 2014 and now it has fallen to Tk 2.68 per cubic metre even after selling CNG to commoners at a much higher price of Tk 43 per cubic metre, Mr Noor added.
Raising land lease costs, municipality taxes, employee salary hikes, and volatility in the US dollar have roughly doubled the maintenance costs of a CNG filling station to Tk 2.0 million from Tk 1.0 million one decade back, he added.
“We are now fighting to ensure our survival,” he said.
Several dozens of CNG filling stations have shut down operations over the past decade as they could not cope with the rising costs, Mr Noor added.
The association sent letters to Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) and Energy and Mineral Resources Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources (MPEMR) to press their demand home.