Govt to set up Tk 3.06b jute plant at Adamjee
Badrul Ahsan | Sunday, 17 April 2011
Badrul Ahsan
The government has finalised a plan to set up a mega jute plant at the site of the now defunct Adamjee Jute Mill area to cash in on booming export of the golden fibre, a senior official said Saturday. The new plant would cost the government Tk3.06 billion in fresh investment and now needs the prime minister's nod for the start of factory construction, jute secretary Asharful Mokbul said. "The jute mill will be set up on about 22 acres of land at Adamjee. We have completed a feasibility study and submitted the project proposal to the Prime Minister," Mr. Mokbul told the FE. Industries minister Dilip Barua said the mill would be set up very soon, creating thousands of new jobs and meeting growing demand of Bangladeshi jute made products in the international market. "Setting up the new jute mill in Adamjee Export Promotion Zone (AEPZ) is under process. We hope we can start construction work very soon," he told the FE Thursday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last year pledged to establish a new jute factory at the area --- some eight years after the Adamjee Jute Mills was closed down following decades of financial bleeding. The announcement pleased left parties and labour groups who have all along criticised the then BNP-led government for disregarding the welfare of 25,000 workers who lost their jobs due to the sudden closure of the factory on June 30, 2002. The shutdown, however, paved the way for establishment of an export processing zone on the 295 acres of land vacated by the country's largest state-owned factory. The industrial park now houses 21 factories, attracting US$120 million and creating tens of thousands of jobs. Another 15 companies will go on production in the new couple of months, making the area a hub for export-oriented textile, apparel and washing plants. Critics of the planned jute factory said the new plant would only serve "political purpose" but they warned it could be very costly to the country's exchequer.
The government has finalised a plan to set up a mega jute plant at the site of the now defunct Adamjee Jute Mill area to cash in on booming export of the golden fibre, a senior official said Saturday. The new plant would cost the government Tk3.06 billion in fresh investment and now needs the prime minister's nod for the start of factory construction, jute secretary Asharful Mokbul said. "The jute mill will be set up on about 22 acres of land at Adamjee. We have completed a feasibility study and submitted the project proposal to the Prime Minister," Mr. Mokbul told the FE. Industries minister Dilip Barua said the mill would be set up very soon, creating thousands of new jobs and meeting growing demand of Bangladeshi jute made products in the international market. "Setting up the new jute mill in Adamjee Export Promotion Zone (AEPZ) is under process. We hope we can start construction work very soon," he told the FE Thursday. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last year pledged to establish a new jute factory at the area --- some eight years after the Adamjee Jute Mills was closed down following decades of financial bleeding. The announcement pleased left parties and labour groups who have all along criticised the then BNP-led government for disregarding the welfare of 25,000 workers who lost their jobs due to the sudden closure of the factory on June 30, 2002. The shutdown, however, paved the way for establishment of an export processing zone on the 295 acres of land vacated by the country's largest state-owned factory. The industrial park now houses 21 factories, attracting US$120 million and creating tens of thousands of jobs. Another 15 companies will go on production in the new couple of months, making the area a hub for export-oriented textile, apparel and washing plants. Critics of the planned jute factory said the new plant would only serve "political purpose" but they warned it could be very costly to the country's exchequer.