Youth activists staged a march along the banks of the Karnaphuli River in Bangladesh’s port city of Chattogram on Thursday, urging the government to halt liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports and redirect investment toward solar and wind power.
The march was held near the Bridgeghat area, where speakers warned that heavy reliance on imported fossil fuels was draining public finances, increasing energy insecurity and worsening environmental risks. The event was organised by private development group ISDE-Bangladesh with support from JetNetBD.
Bangladesh spends around 550 billion taka ($5 billion) each year importing fuel for power generation, a large share of it on LNG, organisers said. Despite gas shortages at existing power plants, the government has approved 11 LNG-based power projects over the past four years four under construction and seven awaiting implementation.
Bangladesh began importing LNG in 2018 to address domestic gas shortages. Two private LNG terminals built in the 2018–19 fiscal year require service charges of about $450,000 per day, activists said. Imported LNG costs around 79.33 taka per cubic metre, but is sold to the power sector at 14.75 taka, resulting in a loss of 64.58 taka per cubic metre.
If gas supplies fall short, power plants remain idle, yet the government must still pay capacity charges. In the 2022–23 fiscal year alone, capacity payments to private power producers totalled 176.5 billion taka, according to speakers, with costs rising as idle capacity expands.
Addressing the rally, speakers said global disruptions, including the Russia-Ukraine war and geopolitical tensions in the Middle East, had made LNG and petroleum supplies increasingly volatile. Further investment in LNG terminals and power plants could become “a noose around the economy,” they warned.
They added that annual fuel imports of nearly $6 billion were placing severe pressure on foreign exchange reserves, while rising energy subsidies and capacity payments were squeezing budget allocations for agriculture, health, transport and education.
Participants also cited the vulnerability of LNG infrastructure to climate shocks. When Cyclone Mocha damaged the Maheshkhali LNG terminal earlier this year, gas supplies were disrupted nationwide for three days, paralysing industry and daily life, speakers said.
“On one hand, we are spending huge amounts of foreign currency on LNG imports; on the other, LNG is driving environmental destruction in the fossil fuel sector,” speakers said, calling for an immediate shift of funds toward renewable energy.
Those expressing solidarity included Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) vice president S M Nazer Hossain, CRCD executive director and CAB Chattogram divisional secretary Kazi Iqbal Bahar Chhaberi, and youth and civil society representatives from ISDE and CAB.
Organisers urged the government to cancel further LNG imports and allocate equivalent funding to solar and wind power to ensure long-term energy security and protect the economy and environment.
