Bangladesh’s industrial leaders are asking for 10 to 20-year visibility on energy supply and pricing as persistent gas and power shortages disrupt production, raise operating costs and make long-term investment decisions increasingly difficult.
The demands were made at a roundtable titled “Bangladesh’s Power and Energy Challenge: Securing Reliable Infrastructure for Better Business Climate”, organised by Policy Exchange Bangladesh and the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dhaka (MCCI) with support from the Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The call comes as the energy crunch exposes deeper weaknesses in planning and fuel procurement. The country’s power shortfall exceeded 3,000 megawatts in early August, while low gas pressure forced many factories to reduce or suspend production.
Supply interruptions and fuel constraints have also pushed industries towards costly alternatives, putting further pressure on exporters.
Mohammad Iqbal Chowdhury, director and chief executive officer of LafargeHolcim, said Bangladesh needs a clear 10–20 year energy strategy focused on competitiveness and sustainability to protect existing industrial investments and provide confidence for future expansion.
“The energy outlook has to be credible and predictable enough for businesses to plan investments over the long term,” he said.
Showkat Aziz Russell, president of the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, said the current shortages reflected weaknesses in long-term planning and fuel procurement.
He called for an industrial energy policy and immediate measures to protect energy-intensive and export-oriented industries.
For some manufacturers, gas is not simply a source of energy but a core production input. Moynul Islam, president of the Bangladesh Ceramic Manufacturers & Exporters, warned that prolonged uncertainty over gas supplies threatens production, employment and investment.
Ijaz Hossain, chairman of ESTex Foundation, said the crisis had evolved into an economic and planning challenge rather than merely a supply problem. He called for better pricing and fuel allocation, greater energy efficiency, renewable energy and a more realistic energy mix.
The business impact is visible in the Bangladesh Business Index 2024–25. The Business Infrastructure score fell to 68.8 from 71.1 in 2023–24. 74.2 per cent of respondents reported experiencing power outages sometimes, while only 20.1 per cent observed structural or regulatory efforts to improve infrastructure.
Pharmaceuticals and chemicals, electronics and light engineering were among the sectors reporting particularly high exposure to recurring outages.
Businesses said unreliable energy is now affecting both production and investment planning. Low gas pressure, interruptions and the use of expensive alternative fuels are raising costs and weakening the competitiveness of export-oriented industries.
They called for priority energy allocation to export-oriented factories and major industrial clusters, together with advance and credible load-shedding schedules that would allow factories to plan production and limit losses when supply is constrained.
The discussion also highlighted the need to move beyond short-term supply responses towards stronger domestic fuel security. Recommendations will feed into a policy note covering fuel security, predictable pricing, accelerated domestic exploration, renewable-energy deployment, energy efficiency and stronger public-private coordination.
Fazlul Houqe, administrator of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, attended as guest of honour, while MCCI president Kamran T Rahman delivered the closing remarks.
The central concern for industry is increasingly one of investment certainty. Without reliable energy supply and greater clarity over its cost, businesses face difficulty forecasting production, protecting existing capacity and committing capital to new factories.
The message from industry is therefore straightforward: Bangladesh needs to make energy predictable enough that companies can plan not just for the next production cycle, but for the next generation of industrial investment.
