Following the fuel oil price hike, anxiety and uncertainty are now growing among businesses and entrepreneurs surrounding the proposal to increase electricity prices. Industry insiders say that production costs in various sectors, including fuel, transportation, and raw materials, have increased significantly just this year.

If electricity prices are raised amidst this, it will become difficult for small and medium-sized industrial enterprises to survive.

Various types of machinery parts used in factories, ranging from ship plates to car and engine gearboxes, are being manufactured in the small workshops and light engineering factories in the city’s Kadamtali area. Numerous such small industrial factories, which are completely dependent on electricity, are scattered across different areas of the city, including Dewanhat, Kadamtali, and Pathantooly in Chattogram. Produced at a relatively low cost, these components are in high demand in the steel, shipbuilding, real estate, and heavy industry sectors.

Despite making a significant contribution to the country’s industrial sector, the light engineering sector has recently come under pressure due to the rising prices of fuel and various raw materials. In the meantime, the proposal to increase electricity prices has created fresh anxiety among entrepreneurs.