Gas crisis needs 2 years to solve: minister

The gas crisis causing prolonged difficulties for industries is a long-standing problem inherited from the past, Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir has said.

He said it could take around two years to build the infrastructure needed to permanently address the country’s ongoing gas shortage, expressing hope that the situation would improve significantly once the infrastructure is completed.

“The country may need two years to build the necessary infrastructure to permanently overcome the ongoing gas crisis. Once the infrastructure is completed, we hope the situation will become largely normal within the next two years,” he told reporters on Saturday (August 15).

The minister was speaking after a workshop in Sylhet on preparing the district-level annual action plan for the 2026-27 fiscal year and evaluating the implementation of the previous year’s plan under a project for agricultural development using modern technology.

Muktadir said increasing the capacity to import and supply gas would be essential to overcoming the long-running crisis.

“Steps are being taken to increase LNG imports,” he said.

He said the next two years would be particularly important for the industrial sector as the required infrastructure is developed.

“That is why the government is also exploring whether the situation can be addressed through measures beyond the usual and emergency arrangements,” he said.

Asked about the possibility of importing LNG from Malaysia, the minister said the country’s smaller LNG vessels are currently engaged elsewhere, creating limitations on bringing gas from Malaysia quickly.

“Even so, the government is trying to see whether the situation can be improved to some extent temporarily,” he said.

Officials from different levels of the Department of Agricultural Extension attended the workshop in Sylhet.