Tk 4,000 Crore Wasted in Gas Sector in One Year: System Loss Due to Theft, Leakage, and Negligence

Staff Reporter

In the 2024-25 fiscal year, nearly 1,796 million cubic meters of gas were wasted in the country, amounting to a financial loss of around Tk 4,107 crore at retail prices. The amount of gas wasted could have fueled 30 million stoves for a year, cooking three meals a day.

While the government has approved a system loss cap of 2%, actual losses reached nearly 7% last fiscal year, with daily wastage of around 174 million cubic feet of gas. This has severely impacted ordinary households struggling to cook, and industries are forced to reduce production due to limited gas supply.

The volume of unaccounted gas has been rising for several years. In the 2023-24 fiscal year, the loss was about 1,597 million cubic meters, compared to 979 million cubic meters in the previous year. This loss has become a massive financial blow, costing the nation thousands of crores annually.

Muhammad Fauzul Kabir Khan, Adviser to the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources, said at an event that illegal connections are re-established almost immediately after pipeline removal operations. He described government efforts as ineffective and disappointing.

Among the six state-owned gas distribution companies, Titas Gas has the highest losses in volume. Last fiscal year, Titas’s system loss increased to 9.47%, up from 7.67% the previous year. Thousands of illegal connections are spread across Dhaka, Narayanganj, Savar, Gazipur, and Munshiganj. Titas claims regular operations are conducted to sever these illegal connections, but the overall impact remains insignificant. In the last fiscal year, Titas disconnected around 116,000 illegal household connections and 576 commercial and industrial connections, a significant drop from the previous year.

Company officials stated that the pace of operations slowed down from July-August, affecting the annual statistics.

Despite multiple attempts to contact Titas’s Managing Director Shahnewaz Parvez, no comments were received. Previously, he had mentioned that cutting illegal connections and replacing old, leaking pipelines were the company’s top priorities, but the practical outcomes have been limited.

Although Titas does not top the loss list in terms of financial value, Bakhrabad Gas Distribution Company has the highest percentage of system loss, which stood at 9.8% last fiscal year, resulting in a loss of approximately Tk 600 crore.

The company says many pipelines in Brahmanbaria are over 50 years old, with numerous leaks. Unless they are replaced or repaired, the situation will not improve.

MD Mohammad Fazle Alam emphasized that many residents believe they have a right to take gas illegally, and changing this mindset is crucial for a permanent solution.

According to preliminary data from Petrobangla, from January to August this year, over 96,000 illegal household connections and 541 illegal industrial and commercial connections were severed across the six distributors. In total, 197 kilometers of illegal pipelines were removed, and more than 25,000 leaks in Petrobangla’s network were detected and repaired.

Despite these operations, officials and stakeholders complain that illegal connections are being re-established rapidly at the same locations.

Official data reveals that around 4.3 million household gas connections fall under the six distributors, and new residential connections have been suspended since 2009 due to lower profitability compared to industrial and commercial connections.

The gas sector is currently facing a massive internal wastage problem, driven by theft, illegal connections, old or cracked pipelines, and managerial incompetence. This results in a significant loss of public funds and national resources every year. The combination of ineffective operations, inadequate remedies, and a lack of accountability is pushing the country toward a crisis, where ordinary people are struggling to cook. If urgent action is not taken, the country’s energy security and industrial production could be severely damaged.