Asifur Rahman

The government is moving to expand the country’s LNG import capacity with another floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) and a land-based facility as domestic gas production continues to decline and the cost of imported gas is rising sharply.

The disruption in liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply has affected households, transport, power plants, and industries across the country, with gas pressure falling sharply.

The government has finalised a draft law to form a single authority by merging at least three investment-related institutions to improve Bangladesh’s position in attracting foreign direct investment.

Delays in obtaining road-cutting approvals from several government agencies have stalled the installation of underground transmission lines under Dhaka Electric Supply Company’s (Desco) power infrastructure expansion project, prompting the utility to seek a two-year extension, according to an official monitoring report.

Bangladesh has for the first time formally brought nicotine pouches and heated tobacco products into the national tax framework, with public health experts warning that the move could legitimise a new generation of nicotine products despite growing global concerns over their health risks.

The government has identified energy security as one of its top strategic priorities for fiscal 2026-27, even as it proposed a nearly 23 percent reduction in the power and energy sector’s allocation from this year’s original.

The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) yesterday raised electricity tariffs at wholesale, transmission, and retail levels, disregarding the objections from different stakeholders.

The government is set to launch exploration offers for all 26 offshore blocks today under a significantly relaxed framework featuring lower qualification thresholds, reduced entry costs and a series of commercial safeguards aimed at lowering investor risk in the Bay of Bengal.

Electricity consumers may face a 13.9 percent increase in retail tariffs in addition to any rise in wholesale electricity and transmission charges, according to the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission’s (BERC) Technical Evaluation Committee.

People should not have to pay for the authorities’ inefficiency, failures, and system losses, consumers said at a hearing on the Power Development Board’s tariff hike proposal yesterday.

The government is planning to charge 21 profitable Palli Bidyut Samitys (PBSs) higher bulk electricity purchase rates.

Electricity consumers are set to face higher bills as the government considers combining tariff hikes with the restructuring of residential billing slabs in a move that could sharply raise costs for middle-range users.

The people will once again have to bear the rising costs driven by idle power generation capacity and soaring global prices of liquefied natural gas, coal, and furnace oil as regulators begin reviewing proposals for a new round of electricity tariff hikes.

Bangladesh will likely have to pay an additional $1.07 billion, or about Tk 13,134 crore, in LNG subsidies during the April–June quarter if global prices remain elevated, according to a new study by a US-based international non-profit.

Bangladesh has embarked on its deepest-ever gas exploration at the Titas field, as the government seeks to unlock untapped reserves far below previously drilled levels and alleviate mounting pressure on its energy supply.

Bangladesh moves a step closer to achieving its long‑cherished goal of generating nuclear energy this afternoon with the start of fuel loading into the reactor core of unit‑1 at the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, marking the transition from the construction to the startup phase.

The Barapukuria coal mine yard in Dinajpur is now storing more than twice its designed capacity, with stocks continuing to rise and raising concerns over fire hazards, possible heap collapse and declining coal quality.

Bangladesh’s coal-fired power plants have, for the first time, outpaced gas-based generation, marking a major shift in the country’s power mix amid declining domestic gas supply and stagnant LNG imports.

After nearly two months of what felt like never-ending queues at filling stations in Dhaka, pressure at petrol pumps has finally started to ease.

The government continues to struggle to meet rising electricity demand amid a sweltering heatwave, with rural Bangladesh suffering frequent, lengthy outages as power generation remains under strain due to a lack of fuel.