Titas aims to bring 82% household under prepaid metering in 5 years
The new projects are awaiting approval by the Planning Commission.
Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited has undertaken two new projects to bring 17.50 lakh additional household gas consumers under the prepaid metering system in the next five years.
The costs of the projects have been estimated at Tk6,234 crore, of which Tk4,664 crore will be provided by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
Once completed, the prepaid metering coverage for household users of the state-owned company will reach 81.79%, according to Titas officials.
The officials said the number of Titas' household connections is about 26.63 lakh. Around 8,600 meters have already been installed with ADB financing.
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Additionally, 320,000 prepaid meters have been installed under an ongoing project funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica). Now, under the ongoing project with Jica loan assistance, another 1 lakh pre-paid meters are being installed, the officials added.
The new projects are awaiting approval by the Planning Commission.
Of these, a target of installing 11 lakh pre-paid meters has been set through the World Bank-funded project. Besides, 6.50 lakh pre-paid meters will be installed in the proposed ADB-funded project.
Once these proposed projects are completed in the next four to five years, the total number of household customers in Titas distribution areas in Dhaka and surrounding districts will be more than 21.78 lakh, Titas officials said.
According to Titas officials, the survey regarding the system loss of the state-run company has not been completed yet, and they do not have any updated information. However, if the two projects are implemented, 26 cubic metres of gas will be saved per household user each month.
The officials also said that the installation of pre-paid meters will increase efficiency in gas usage by preventing wastage of gas used at the residential level, detecting leakage in gas transmission and distribution pipelines, and increasing awareness of gas usage in Titas distribution areas.
As a result, the release of methane and carbon dioxide into the atmosphere will decrease. Most of the country's carbon dioxide emissions come from oil and natural gas, they added.
Engineer Prodip Chandra Mondol, deputy general manager at Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited, said, "Titas' household users are said to be 26.63 lakh, but in reality the number is 28 lakh."
He said all household customers are targeted to be brought under the metering system by 2030.
"To this end, a feasibility study is already underway. After the completion of the study, another new project will be taken up in the next one to two years. If the project is implemented, it is expected that it will be possible to bring 100% of the household customers under the pre-paid metering system," he added.
Planning Commission objects to per-meter costs
According to the Planning Commission, the price of each meter has been set at Tk17,500 by adding an additional 10% to the estimated cost fixed for the ongoing project of Jalalabad Gas Distribution Company Limited. In the Jalalabad contract signed in 2022, the cost per meter was set at Tk15,873.
The Planning Commission has stated that it has directed the avoidance of the 10% increase in meter costs for the two proposed projects.
The commission has recommended the elimination of price per meter variation in the ongoing and proposed pre-paid gas meter installation projects of various companies under the Energy and Mineral Resources Division.
At the same time, it has requested that the Division take the necessary measures to formulate the meter rate schedule at the earliest.
In the two proposed projects, the monthly meter rent has been set at Tk200 at the customer level. But under other ongoing projects, the existing monthly meter rent is fixed at Tk100.
According to sources in the Planning Commission, the authorities have ordered reducing the monthly rent after a review.
The Planning Commission came up with its observations after its evaluation committee held separate meetings in July and August to review proposals for the projects.
According to officials, the World Bank will provide Tk2,719 crore as a loan against the project cost of Tk3,951 crore.
On the other hand, the ADB will finance Tk1,944.99 crore against the total cost of the project of Tk2283 crore.
For both projects, the remaining funding will be sourced from Titas' internal funds and the government.
