Due to a hike in prices of gas and electricity in Bangladesh, businesses are facing hardships. Uninterrupted supply of gas and electricity is a must for the textile industry, as blackouts significantly degrade the quality of spin. A number of factory owners are facing trouble as they do not have any forward linkage industry and are struggling to survive.

Over the last two years, gas prices have seen a 222 per cent jump. A crisis in the primary textile industry may create a negative impact in the country’s 28 billion dollar apparel industry, as the former industry supplies the lion’s share of raw materials to the latter.

If there is any adverse impact on the primary textile industry, it would consequently hurt the apparel sector, as manufacturers will have to buy the material from other countries at a higher price. The textile industry contributes more than 12 per cent to the country’s overall GDP. Almost 90 per cent of the demand for knits, and 40 per cent of the demand for woven fabrics, by the export oriented readymade garment sector are met by the primary textile sector.

To cope with existing power crisis, primary textile millers want the import of energy efficient machinery to be allowed.