Search the Internet          Tips  Sites: Finance, Investment

Indo-Bangla LPG venture starts marketing gas

Jamuna Spacetech Joint-Venture Ltd, an Indian-Bangladeshi venture, has started marketing liquefied petroleum gas in Bangladesh's energy-starved northern region, a senior company official said on Sunday.

"We have already started distribution of bottled LPG in the northern region," company managing director, Belayet Hossain said.

He said the plant at Bogra, about 230 km from the capital Dhaka, would meet domestic demand in the region.

The plant, set up in 1996, began limited production in August last year.

"The delay in production was due mainly to short supply of liquefied petroleum from state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation," said a company project manager, Hasanuzzaman.

Spacetech Equipment Structural Limited, India, a Bombay-based company, specialising in LPG gas storage tanks and pipelines, owns a 10 per cent share of the taka 100 million ($1.85 million) project.

Bangladeshi company Jamuna Enterprise holds a 90 per cent share in the venture.

Hossain said his company was expected to meet much of the country's LPG demand with annual production of 1.9 million 12.5 kg cylinders.

Bangladesh's total LPG demand is estimated at 280,000 tonnes a year. LPG is mainly used in Bangladesh as a domestic cooking fuel.

The state-run Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation owns two LPG plants with a combined annual production capacity of 15,000 tonnes. The privately owned Union LP Gas plant produces 40,500 tonnes per year.

Tell us what you think of this report