The Bangladesh Investment Development Authority has urged the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission to revise the recently announced gas price hike, saying that otherwise, it would affect the economic momentum.聽
鈥楾he move could hurt the country鈥檚 investment prospects and economic momentum,鈥� the BIDA said in a letter to the BERC on Tuesday.
The BERC recently announced a 33-per cent increase in gas prices for industries planning to get new connections or expand with additional gas consumption.
In the letter, BIDA executive chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun said that the newly fixed gas tariff discriminated against new investors, who would have to pay 33 per cent more than existing ones.聽
鈥楾his discriminatory policy will discourage new investments,鈥� he added.
He said that investors were already considering this decision unfair and had taken a stand against it.
The BIDA chief also pointed to the timing of the announcement, which came just days after the 鈥楤angladesh Investment Summit 2025鈥�, organised by the BIDA from April 7 to 10.
The event drew about 450 investors and business leaders from 40 countries, many of whom expressed interest in investing in Bangladesh, he added.
He mentioned that several investors signed MoUs and agreements to invest in the country.聽
The announcement of a discriminatory gas price hike right after the summit will undoubtedly create negative sentiment among them, he added.
He urged the BERC to reconsider the decision in favour of an investment-friendly pricing model and proposed organising a review and impact analysis workshop to evaluate the implications of the hike.