Sparkling start of Bizli Cables at Habiganj Industrial Park

RFL Group, a local conglomerate, is eyeing expansion of its share in the fast-growing electrical cable market as it has made a hefty fresh investment to manufacture underground cables.
Considering the potential, RFL subsidiary Bizli Cables has installed a new hi-tech facility with sophisticated machinery at Tk 600 million.
The plant at Habiganj Industrial Park, some 145 kilometers off the capital city of Dhaka, has already created a further 200 employments.
Top officials of the company disclosed this to journalists following a media visit to the newly-built facility on an area of 120,000 square feet.
"With the fresh investment, we're equipped with world-class machinery to manufacture different types of cables to meet the local demand," said RFL Group managing director RN Paul.
The demand will be huge in coming days since the government has decided to replace overhead conductor with underground or medium-voltage cable for power distribution, he added.
According to Mr Paul, the current annual market size of such cables is an estimated Tk 10 billion.
By making import-substitute products and contributing to local value addition, he continued, this venture was making special contribution to the domestic economy.
Necessary policy support from the government can also help local manufacturers export electric cables, he said, adding that RFL has already exported Bizli cables to neighbouring India.
According to data compiled by the RFL, 80 per cent of the local demand for the medium-voltage cable is met by import, mostly from China and South Korea.
The remaining demand is met by some local companies like BRB, BBS and Partex Cables.
Against this backdrop, RFL Group has installed the new unit with an annual production capacity of 4,000 tonnes of medium-voltage cable.
With the latest one, Bizli Cables has four different factories inside Habiganj Industrial Park, the largest private-sector industrial park in the country.
Abul Bashar, factory head of Bizli Cables, said the company began its journey in 2013 with an eye to providing consumers with high-quality products to ensure safety and security.
"Advanced technologies and quality materials are used for manufacturing all types of cables that significantly reduce the possibility of any fire incident following short circuit," he cited.
Several state-of-the-art laboratories and skilled workforce are in operations to ensure safety standard of the manufactured cables there, added Mr Bashar.
Currently, Bizli makes 10 types of cables, including power cable, communication cable, enamel wire, copper strip, optical fibre and fire-resistant cable, he said.
Power cable is in great demand, said M Bashar, adding that Bizli Cables has so far invested approximately Tk 2.2 billion.
In addition to medium-voltage cable, according to RFL officials, Bizli has recently launched HDMI and USB cable, which has an estimated market size of Tk 2.5 billion.
The company sells its merchandise to different government organisations related to electricity alongside meeting the domestic usage.
According to sector insiders, the local electrical cables market size-presently estimated at around Tk 120 billion-has been expanding at a rate of annual growth of 20 per cent thanks to the growing demand for power equipments following electricity generation.
BRB Cable is leading the cable market in Bangladesh followed by Bizli Cables and BBS Cables.
Others in the market include Partex Cables, SQ, Eastern Cables, Citizen Cables, Poly Cables and Walton.
At present, more or less 120 companies, big and small, are involved in cable production.
Approximately 35 per cent of the cables currently used in the country are imported mainly from China, Germany, Japan, Malaysia, India and Sudan.

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