The government plans to introduce an LPG subsidy card for homemakers from next year as part of its social safety net programme to improve access to clean cooking fuel for low- and middle-income households.
Tentatively named the “Grihini LPG Card”, the initiative aims to help families cope with rising energy costs and Bangladesh’s growing natural gas shortage.
“We have a plan to introduce a family LPG card for homemakers next year,” Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD) Secretary Mohammad Saiful Islam told Just Energy News.
He said the programme is intended to support lower-middle-income and middle-class households that are increasingly affected by higher energy prices and limited gas supply.
“We have no problem identifying the beneficiaries, as the government has already identified them under the social safety net programme,” Saiful Islam said.
Initially, the government plans to provide a Tk 1,000 monthly incentive through each subsidy card, according to him.
The proposed LPG card comes as Bangladesh faces a widening gap between natural gas demand and supply. Daily gas demand is estimated at around 4,000 million cubic feet per day (MMcfd), while average supply is about 2,654 mmcfd, leaving a shortfall of roughly 1,346 mmcfd of demand.
To ease the impact of the shortage, the government plans to expand the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), which is increasingly replacing piped natural gas for household cooking.
The LPG card programme is expected to build on the government’s existing Family Card initiative. Authorities have so far issued 37,567 Family Cards under a pilot programme targeting around 40,000 households. In FY2026-27, the government plans to distribute 4.1 million Family Cards, with a long-term target of covering 20 million families nationwide.
The government is also preparing to enter the LPG import market through the public sector to strengthen supply security and reduce the market dominance of private importers.
“We have a plan to import 90,000 tonnes of LPG annually from the United States starting in September, based on the requirements of private importers,” the EMRD secretary said.
Bangladesh currently consumes about 1.7 million tonnes of LPG a year. Around 80% is used by households for cooking, while the remainder is consumed by industries, commercial users and the autogas sector. Industry forecasts suggest annual demand could exceed 3 million tonnes by 2030.
Nearly 99% of the country’s LPG supply is imported and distributed by private companies, while state-owned production meets only about 1.3% of national demand. Bangladesh imported about 1.45 million tonnes of LPG in 2025, slightly higher than 1.44 million tonnes in 2024.
“We want to ensure the availability of primary fuel for every vulnerable family,” Saiful Islam said.
The proposed LPG card programme is part of the government’s broader strategy to strengthen energy security, expand access to cleaner cooking fuel and protect vulnerable households from the impact of tightening domestic natural gas supplies.