Dhaka: Gas prices have been raised for all types of consumers which will come into effect in two phases as per the decision of Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC).

Newly appointed BERC chairman Monwar Islam, who recently retired as power secretary, announced the new gas prices at a press briefing at its office on Thursday.

In the first phase to be effective from March 1, household consumers will have to pay Tk 750 for single burner stove while Tk 800 for double burner stoves in a month.

At present, the gas price is Tk 600 for single burner and Tk 650 for double burner.

The same consumers will have to pay Tk 900 and Tk 950 for single and double burners respectively from June 1.

Similarly, the motor vehicle owners using CNG will have to pay Tk 38 for per cubic metre from March 1 and Tk 40 from June 1 this year.

The gas prices for other sectors, including power, fertilise, industries, commercial ventures and captive power plants, were also raised.

The country's energy regulatory body increased the price of natural gas by 22.70 percent for all types of consumers.

The BERC announced the new tariff after six months of holding public hearing on proposals from state-run gas marketing, transmission and distribution companies.

It also raised the distribution margins of Sundarbon Gas Company Ltd and Pashchimanchol Gas Company Ltd but rejected the plea for raising the similar margin for Titas Gas Marketing and Distribution Company Ltd.

The BERC chairman said the gas tariff has been increased to cope with the growing costs of natural gas production, transmission and distribution. "We've decided the hike to be effective in two phases offering a comfort to consumers so that it doesn't create any pressure on their pockets at once," he said.

The BERC last raised the natural gas prices in September 2015 with an average hike of 26.29 percent while it was hiked by 11.22 percent in 2009.

The tariff for natural gas for power plants will be Tk 2.99 per cubic metre from March 1 and Tk 3.16 from June 1. The existing tariff for power plants is Tk 2.82 per cubic metre.

Gas tariff for captive power plants has been increased to Tk 8.98 per cubic meter from March 1 and Tk 9.62 per cubic meter from June 1 from the current tariff of Tk 8.36 per cubic meter.

For fertiliser factories, the new tariff of Tk 2.64 per cubic metre will be effective from March 1 and Tk 2.71 per cubic metre from June. The present natural gas tariff for fertiliser factories is Tk 2.58 per cubic metre.

For industrial consumers, the new gas tariff will be Tk 7.24 per cubic metre from March 1 while Tk 7.76 per cubic metre from June 1 from existing Tk 6.74.

The BERC raised the natural gas tariff for commercial consumers to Tk 14.20 per cubic metre from March 1 while Tk 17.04 per cubic metre from June 1 against the existing Tk 11.36.
 For tea estates, the new tariff of Tk 6.93 per cubic metre will come into effect on March 1 and it will be Tk 7.42 from June 1 from the existing Tk 6.74 per cubic metre.

The feed gas price for CNG has been raised to Tk 30 per cubic metre from March 1 and Tk 32 per cubic metre from June 1 against current Tk 27.

However, the operators' margin was kept unchanged at Tk 8.0 per cubic metre.

The transmission margin of state-run Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL) was increased to 0.2654 per cubic metre from Tk 0.1565.

Responding to a query, a BERC member said the lion portion of the increased natural gas tariff will go to the national exchequer as supplementary duty, value added tax (VAT) and corporate taxes.