Gas crisis halves production in Savar-Ashulia industrial hubs

Severe gas shortages and critically low pressure have slashed output by half at garment factories, dyeing units and leather plants across Dhaka’s Savar and Ashulia industrial belts, disrupting boiler operations, raising costs and threatening timely delivery of export orders.

Factory owners report production has fallen 50–60 percent in many units because of inadequate gas pressure. They warn that prolonged disruption will make it difficult to meet export deadlines.

A visit on Tuesday to plants in Savar’s Radio Colony and Hemayetpur and Ashulia’s Jirabo areas revealed the impact.

Some production lines stood idle while managers waited for pressure to recover or electricity to return. Many factories have switched to diesel or LPG to keep operations running, but the shift has sharply increased costs.

More than 1,000 factories in the Savar-Ashulia zone are affected, with garment, textile, spinning, dyeing, steel, ceramic and paper industries among the hardest hit. Normal production requires 10–15 PSI of gas pressure; current supply delivers only 1–3 PSI, leaving boilers and generators unable to run at full capacity.

Industry sources say supply has improved slightly from the previous week, yet most factories still receive far less gas than they need. At Pakija Dyeing and Printing Industries Limited in Savar, pressure frequently falls from 2 PSI to below 1 PSI, against a daily requirement of at least 5 PSI. Similar conditions prevail at Al-Muslim Group factories in Ulail, Savar.

Raju Ahmed, administrative officer at Al-Muslim Garment Factory, said the unit needs at least 20 PSI for normal operations but currently sees pressure drop from 6 PSI to below 4 PSI at times.

“Three months ago we produced 180,000 to 200,000 yards of cloth daily. Now output is down to about 100,000–110,000 yards,” he told Daily Samakal. Production has nearly halved in three months.

Leather factories in Savar’s industrial city are also struggling. Roughly half of the 145 units receive no gas, while the rest get only about half their required supply.

Mizanur Rahman, general secretary of the Bangladesh Tanners Association, said gas supply to the leather city was almost completely cut a week earlier.

“For the past week about half the factories have been getting only half the gas they need. This is seriously disrupting production,” he said.

Labour leaders say the crisis is also affecting workers. Khairul Mamun Mintu, legal secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Sweaters Workers Trade Union Center, warned that without adequate pressure the problem could become prolonged.

Abdullah Hasan Al Mamun, manager of Titas Gas’s Savar Zonal Sales Office, acknowledged the shortfall: “About half the required gas is available. It is not possible to supply factories as needed, and low pressure is disrupting production.”