The decision was taken by the cabinet committee on economic affairs at a meeting last month and the Bangladesh Bank issued a circular to this effect yesterday.

Bangladesh will not supply electricity and gas to new factories set up outside designated economic zones and industrial enclaves.
The central bank, which feels planned industrialisation with proper land and energy management will ensure prosperity, has asked banks to ensure mandatory clearance certificates from utility service providers before clearing loans.

The central bank also instructed banks to ensure mandatory clearance certificates from utility service providers before approving loans.

Though the energy and mineral resources ministry had issued a circular in 2020 to stop providing new gas connections to industries outside economic zones and industrial parks from April 2021, the government did not strictly implement the decision in the last three years.

The central bank now feels planned industrialisation with proper land and energy management is the key to ensuring economic prosperity, according to domestic media reports.

Mahbubul Alam, president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, told a newspaper that the decision should, however, not be applicable to those who have already set up factories outside government-designated industrial zones.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)