Narsingdi Textile Industry Grinds to a Halt Amid Severe Gas Shortage

A severe gas shortage in Narsingdi, Bangladesh is crippling the local textile industry. The crisis began on July 21 when a technical fault at a floating LNG terminal off Moheshkhali in Cox's Bazar disrupted supplies. Since then, repeated supply problems have affected power plants and factories.

According to Abdullah Al Mamun, spokesperson for the Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA), more than 100 factories have been forced to shut down due to the gas shortage. The crisis is particularly severe in Narsingdi, where around 2,500 textile, dyeing, sizing, spinning, and garment factories rely on gas.

Factories in Narsingdi are struggling to pay workers' wages and may have to compensate buyers for their losses. The damage is estimated at Tk 400-500 crore per day, leaving factory owners who took bank loans in serious financial difficulty. Industry leaders are urging the government to set a clear timeframe for restoring gas and electricity supplies to normal.