Now, the country can utilise only 60 percent of its existing capacity to supply the imported costly liquified natural gas (LNG), while 40 percent remain unutilised, said insiders in the gas sector.

For this, PDB data shows, the power sector is not getting the expected gas supply resulting in 1400 MW power generation keeping out of operation.

Not only the non-utilisation of capacity, but the country also has to incur huge financial losses by counting a capacity payment of about $200,000 per day to the LNG terminal operators which provide the re-gasification service to the imported LNG.

Officials at Pertrobangla and its subsidiary RPGCL, however, attributed these losses to the state-owned Gas Transmission Company Limited (GTCL) for its failure to implement two gas transmission-line projects undertaken to increase the supply facilities.

Two pipelines -- 42-inch 90-km pipeline from Moheshkhali to Anwara and 36-inch 181-km Chattogram-Feni-Bakhrabad — were undertaken by the GTCL to reach the imported LNG across the country by enhancing transmission facility.

Official data shows the Maheshkhali-Anwara project was undertaken at a cost of Tk 1157.42 crore to implement it by December 2018. But, 40 percent of works still remain unimplemented.

Similarly, the 181-km pipeline from Fouzdarhat of Chattogram to Bakhrabad of Cumilla was undertaken at Tk 1962.38 crore with a schedule to complete the work by June 2019. But, its 70 percent works were done while 30 percent remained undone.

Officials said the GTCL`s failure to timely implement the pipeline projects ultimately created the bottlenecks in utilising the full capacity of the private sector’s re-gasification units.

Such failure has a financial cost as well, they said adding that the government has contracts with the LNG terminal operators to utilise their full capacity or else they have to pay a mandatory capacity payment as per condition of the contracts.

“Now, the government has to make a capacity payment of about $200,000 per day to the LNG terminal operators,” a top official at Petrobangla said.

RPGCL managing director Quamruzzaman, which is responsible for the import and supply of LNG, admitted the capacity payment to the LNG terminal operators.

“We’ve to pay an amount nearly $200,000 per day,” he said adding that this is not a big deal and it may happen in Bangladesh where project implementation always faces delay.

Contacted, GTCL managing director Ali Mohd Al Mamun blamed the land acquisition complexity and critical task of laying pipeline under riverbed for this delay in implementation of pipeline projects.

He said the government has to acquire land for laying pipeline which is beyond the control of the implementing agency. “We’ve to depend on district administration for timely land acquisition. But when it gets delayed, the whole process gets delayed,” he told UNB.

Mamun hoped that the remaining works of both the pipeline projects will be completed within two-three months.