The ability of the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) in generating the desired levels of investment in its industrial estates has long been under scanner. The state-owned agency has been found not be up to its task. Its failure, often attributed to factors beyond its control, is believed to have become unstoppable due mainly to political interference. However, the agency should not consider this a safe alibi to shield its own incompetence. While political interferences have eroded much of BSCIC's potential, lack of proactive policies of successive governments has imperilled it to the extent that gearing it up to meet the requirements appears more than challenging. One fears if the organisation, having been used for so long to serve partisan interests, is at all well disposed to be revamped.
A study report on the performance of BSCIC, released some days back in the capital, made no bones to hammer out how this organisation has been degraded to serve the interest of the vested groups. In the study report, it came out that BSCIC has presently 74 industrial estates in 59 districts, of which, at least 20 were established without any feasibility study. There are a total of 5747 plots in these estates. A total of 4,278 industrial units in these estates are now in production, while 321 have either become sick or were shut down, according to the study. Some 487 plots are yet to be allocated. Poor communication, gas and electricity problems are the key deterrents to attracting investment to the estates. The report has also revealed that although the BSCIC estates were meant for small mills and factories, many large industrial plants made it their home by expanding their operations and buying more and more plots over time. Owners of some of these industries are said to have got allocation of as many as 14-16 plots, depriving the potential small entrepreneurs. There are also many entrepreneurs who, having been provided with plots, have kept those idle for a long time.
That the state of affairs is far from improving can be comprehended from reports that were published recently. These said, as many as nearly 1,000 BSCIC plots, spread out across the country, are lying idle. A report published in this newspaper quoting BSCIC sources says that because of the absence of essential service facilities, the industrial plots that otherwise should have attracted potential users are in need of major initiatives to gradually put those services in place. Poor infrastructure including communication links - attributable to unwise and rash selection of sites - is the foremost of the disincentives for investors.
Besides, insufficient gas and power connectivity has further made this large number of industrial plots uneconomic. It has been stated that of the vacant plots, 205 are in the industrial parks in Chittagong division, 96 in Dhaka division, 78 in Rajshahi division and 613 in Khulna division. So, if it is political influence of successive governments that has dug so deep, improving the situation may be near-impossible - until the government considers it an evil to be dealt with severely. One hopes the government feels it this way.
BSCIC: Deliverance from political influence
FE Team | Published: April 06, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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