Advisory body consents to Titas' 25pc share offloading

State-run Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd yesterday received consent from the Advisory Committee on Economic Affairs to offload its 25 percent stake on bourses.
“Titas Gas can offload its shares within the next two to three months into completion of all necessary procedures,” Finance Adviser Dr AB Mirza Azizul Islam told reporters after a meeting of the advisory committee.
He hoped offloading of shares by the gas company will provide an opportunity for the common people to get involved in an state-owned enterprise, and also to bring accountability in the organisation.
The adviser said although a ministerial meeting had proposed for offloading 49 percent shares of Titas, the Advisory Committee on Economic Affairs yesterday gave the go-ahead for offloading 25 percent.
Earlier in last month, Titas Gas at an extra-ordinary general meeting decided to offload its 25 percent shares worth Tk 215.30 crore to the public through the two stock exchanges in the country.
The Titas Gas will float a total of 21,550,335 shares through the Investment Corporation of Bangladesh (ICB).
At the EGM, Titas also decided to raise its paid up capital to Tk 862.01 crore before offloading shares.
The company has already increased its authorised capital to Tk 2000 crore from Tk 350 crore and reduced the face value of per share from Tk 500 to Tk 100.
During yesterday's meeting, the advisory committee also decided to import 1 lakh tonnes of fertiliser from Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.
It also decided that the ongoing study by a Japanese firm to find out a site for a deep seaport will continue. PCI, Japan, an international consultancy firm, is overseeing the task.
The finance adviser said such a feasibility study by the Japanese firm came up for discussion in the meeting and it observed that cancellation of the study contract or its discontinuation will cost more and the project implementation might be a time-consuming one.
Mirza Aziz said the government has already paid Tk 5 crore to the Japanese firm. The total amount payable to the firm for the study is Tk 13.
He said the company will submit its study report to the caretaker government, but the decision on whether the deep-sea port will be set up or not rests upon the next government.