Titas to set up meter assembling factory with Japanese firms

To expedite pre-paid meter installation and cut meter import cost, Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited is planning to set up a new gas meter assembling factory in partnership with two Japanese firms.

According to the initial plan and proposal, the factory will be set up in the Japanese Economic Zone in Araihazar of Narayanganj, said sources at Onoda Inc, one of the two Japanese companies.

The three companies will have equal shares in the venture, they said.

If this is approved, it will be the third meter assembling factory in the country after Bangladesh Smart Electric Company Limited and Bangladesh Power Equipment Manufacturing Company(BPEMC), both of which assemble electric meters.

Md Hussain Ahamad, managing director of Onoda Inc told The Business Standard they have submitted the proposal to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division.

"However, the size of total investment and factory production capacity will be decided at the next meeting scheduled on 24 April," he said.

Engineer Md Haronur Rashid Mullah, managing director of Titas gas, said they are planning to set up a factory as they will need a large number of meters in the future.

"Apart from reducing the import cost of meters, a factory will help us provide post-installation meter services," he said.

Titas gas has 28.74 lakh customers in its distribution zones in Dhaka and Mymensingh division, where 28.56 lakh are household consumers.

Despite several directives from the energy regulatory commission and consumer rights bodies for intalling pre-paid meters at the consumer end, the initiative has gained little attention and pace thus far.

Consumer experience and the regulatory commission's data, suggests pre-paid meters are more cost effective than post-paid service. In some cases, post-paid service is around two times more expensive than prepaid service.

But, in the last seven years, Titas gas has thus far transitioned only 3.20lakh domestic consumers to pre-paid meter service.

Many consumers say Titas is intentionally proceeding slowly in expanding pre-paid meter service to earn more money by supplying less gas.

Titas gas officials have denied the allegation, saying consumers reduce consumption once they move to pre-paid meters from flat rate post-paid service, no longer wasting the essential fuel.