Plan to reopen North Bengal Paper Mill next year

---

Talha Bin Habib The government has planned to reopen the North Bengal Paper Mill next year as the Chinese expert team has completed its feasibility study recently that would pave the way to relaunch the mill to produce paper pulp from jute, officials said. "The Chinese team has visited the mill. They assured the government of submitting their assessment report next month," Chairman of Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) TD Mitra told the FE Friday. He said that the expert team from the world's second largest economy has expressed its positive interest to assist the government in producing paper from jute pulp in the mill. China is playing a leading role in producing paper from jute pulp and other high quality cotton from jute, an official of the Ministry of Textiles and Jute (MoTJ) told the FE. The Chinese government delegation visited Bangladesh in the second week of the current month to assess the viability of reopening the mill through joint venture. The delegation went to the mill and completed the assessment. Mr Mitra said the feasibility study report will provide viable guidelines to the ministry concerned for reopening the North Bengal Paper Mill at Pakshi in Pabna that has been lying idle for nearly a decade. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has given positive node to the MoTJ to go ahead with its plan to reactivate the mill. The average annual production of jute in the country is between 6.5 and 7.0 million bales. If the North Bengal Paper Mill starts production, then the jute producers will be able to sell raw jute to the mill. "The government has also a plan to establish four more new mills for producing pulp from jute that will open a window of opportunities for jute producers for selling a large quantity of raw jute to the mills that will also help in stabilising the local jute market and give value addition to the golden fibre," a high official of the ministry concerned said. The country has to import about 0.1 million tonnes of paper every year. Initially the mill has a target to produce about 20,000 tonnes of paper annually.