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Electricity in Bangladesh has been restored after the South Asian country plunged into a blackout following the blackout of its national power grid, officials said.
The blackout, which affected much of the country, began at 2:05 p. m. on Tuesday and lasted only about seven hours before the force was fully restored until 9 p. m. The cause of the challenge was swift.
Many major grocery shopping malls in the capital, Dhaka, closed early Tuesday. Elsewhere, other people piled up at gas stations to collect diesel to run backup turbines and market vendors operated by candlelight.
Nasul Hamid, deputy minister of electricity, force and mineral resources, said in a statement that he regretted the “temporary inconveniences” caused by the blackout.
Officials from the state-run Bangladesh Energy Development Board said electricity transmission had failed in the east of the country.
All power plants have been shut down and power has been cut in Dhaka and other major cities, said Shameem Hasan, spokesman for the power department.
Bangladesh’s impressive recent economic expansion has been threatened by electricity shortages since the government suspended operations at all diesel-forced power plants to import costs as costs skyrocketed.
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Diesel-forced power plants produced about 6 of Bangladesh’s electric power generation, so their closures reduced generation by up to 1,500 megawatts.
Earlier this month, Faruque Hassan, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, said the scenario is so dire that garment factories now have electricity between 4 and 10 hours a day.
Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest clothing exporter after China, and earns more than 80 percent of its total foreign exchange from garment exports.
Last month, the Asian Development Bank said in a report that Bangladesh’s economic expansion would slow to 6. 6 from its previous forecast of 7. 1 for the current fiscal year.
Lower customer spending due to weak export demand, domestic production constraints and other points are slowdowns, he said.
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