The frequent power cuts have paved the way for a booming business for some electrical equipment like charger lights and fans along with AC/DC lights, IPS (instant power supply) and candles.   

Both the demand and the prices of the items are on an upward trajectory in the wake of the power outage that the country is going through, and that began on Tuesday across the country including in Dhaka.

Most wholesale traders at Kaptan Bazar Complex, Sundarban Square Super Market, Taj Electric Market and Mozammel Electric  Market got the upper hand to do a brisk business since Tuesday.

According to the wholesales, they were selling charger fans and AC/DC (alternating current/direct current) lights at about 30 per cent higher rate over the past seven days as the importers continued to increase the price of the electrical products, mainly charger fans and lights.

They argued that they were suffering from supply shortage as importers could not provide products due to high demand.

‘The price of charger fans like Defender climbed to Tk 5,000 from Tk 3,900 in just two days,’ said SM Hafizur Rahman, owner of MH Electric Fair at Sundarban Square Market in the capital’s Fulbaria.

Sheikh Shakib, proprietor of Shakib Electric and Lighting Zones at Kaptan Bazar Complex, said, ‘We sold an AC/DC light of Al Hena, a local company, at Tk 220 before Eid-ul-Azha which is now selling at Tk 350.’

He added that they sold 12W AC/DC light of OSACA company at Tk 380 which is now priced at Tk 480.

Md Zakir Hossain, owner of Power Electric at Sundarban Square Electric Super Marker said, ‘We are selling all the products, mostly charger lights and fans at a higher price. The price went up by Tk 500 in just a few hours as the importers hiked it.’

He said that they bought the items at high prices and were forced to sell them higher.

‘We sold a Chinese charger fan at Tk 3,000 but it was sold at Tk 2,000 just five days ago,’ he added.     

The wholesalers also said that the prices of all electrical appliances, including lights, fans, switch boards, cables and others increased highly in this year.

Importer Shakaowat Hossain Khan Liton, owner of Khan Trade House, said that the high price of charger lights and fans had been for the past seven days as the demand for these products went up due to the government decision of power cut.

‘We could not be able to import goods as banks were not allowing us to open LC and it leads to supply shortage. The demand for charger fans increased several times higher than what was witnessed earlier,’ he added.

He blamed the high dollar price, transportation cost and the Russia’s invasion on Ukraine to the existing price hike.

‘People are buying products at a large scale creating shortage in the market. If the government does not give us opportunity to import products freely, the crisis and the instability in the market will not go away soon,’ he said.   

According to Bangladesh Electric Association chairman Khandaker Ruhul Amin, they estimated that the country had about a Tk 50,000-crore market in which Tk 25,000 crore accounts for domestic and the rest depended on import.

BEA chairman Khandaker Ruhul Amin told New Age that they had also noticed unstable prices of electrical products in the wholesale and local markets.

‘We have already taken measures through issuing a circular to keep the prices affordable. We will not allow anyone to take any opportunity from such situation,’ he added.

He, however, said that the importers were forced to increase due to the increase in dollar rate and higher prices in the global market.

Asked why the prices of locally produced electrical goods were hiked at the same time, he said, ‘We do not have 100 per cent capacity in production. We have to import raw materials from mostly China and some from India and they increased the price significantly.’

He also said that the prices of raw materials increased far and beyond.

The prices of candles also increased due to the power cut as the small-size candle rate went up to Tk 10 from Tk 5 and the medium one to Tk 15 from Tk 10, according to local shopkeepers.

A HAMKO IPS dealer named Md Raihan told New Age that the price of 600VA IPS of their company rose to Tk 8,700 from Tk 6500 in 15 days ago.

He also said that he sold IPS from Rahimafrooz which was now out of stock.

The authorities could not maintain the schedule of area-based power cuts in the country’s rural areas, particularly in northern and south-western districts, although it was maintained largely in the capital.   

The area-based power outages for one to two hours began on Tuesday across the country as the government decided to suspend the operation of diesel-fired power plants amid the growing power and energy crisis.

Keeping fuel oil pumps shut for a day in a week was also suggested at a meeting of the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday against the backdrop of the crisis that worsened due to the war between Russia and Ukraine that began on February 24.

The Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday gave a new set of directives, including reducing the use of power by 25 per cent in all public offices and slashing 20 per cent allocation for energy sector from the current national budget.