Business leaders in Chittagong have urged the government to boost industrialisation in the port city through special allocation of funds in the upcoming national budget for 2015-16.

They want the government to pay special attention to build infrastructure in the port city.

The businesspeople also called for allocating more fund for installation of a new gas line and power sub-stations to ensure uninterrupted supply of power and gas in the industrial sector.

The government can finance the construction of a tunnel under the Karnaphuli river, so that new industrial zones can be set up on the other side of the river, Mahbub Alam, president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, told The Daily Star.

He also stressed the need for allocating funds to increase Chittagong port's capacity and build a deep-sea port.

“The government should decrease the duty in the shipbuilding industry to 7.5 percent from the current 15 percent because of its booming nature,” the chief of the trade body said. The government can also allocate funds in the budget to build a liquefied natural gas station in Chittagong to meet the demand of gas, he said.

Nasir Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, first vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, emphasised building garment villages on the outskirts of the city. Garment entrepreneurs failed to set up new factories at an expected pace in Chittagong, as they face harassment to get logistics support, including power, gas and water supply, Chowdhury said.

The government needs to provide the sector with proper logistics support to capture the market of China, he said.

“If the government allocates money for garment villages in Chittagong with all logistics support, the sector will expand as many new entrepreneurs will start investing.”

To build Chittagong as the commercial capital in its true sense, there is no alternative to invest in infrastructure, Chowdhury said.

“The connectivity from Chittagong to Dhaka and Chittagong to Cox's Bazar needs to be developed,” he said, adding that facilities should be increased through government funding in Chittagong's Shah Amanat International Airport.

The government should allocate Tk 5,000 crore in the budget to build a flyover to reduce traffic congestion in front of Chittagong Export Processing Zone and Chittagong port, said AM Mahbub Chowdhury, senior vice president of Chittagong Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“Chittagong port losses around 25 percent of its operational capacity due to traffic congestion in the area,” he said.

He also urged the government to allocate money for building four lanes of the road connecting Bahaddarhat to Karnaphulli Shah Amanat Bridge along with building power sub-stations and new gas pipelines.

Chittagong gets only 11 percent electricity of national production, which should be increased to 15 percent to cope with the present demand of industrialisation, he said.

“The government should allocate more money to install another gas line because only one gas line from Bakhrabad cannot meet the demand of gas in the industrial sector of Chittagong.”