KHULNA, Apr 19 (BSS): The government is set to build a pharmaceutical raw material manufacturing plant on the site of the closed Khulna Newsprint Mill this year.
"The plant will be constructed on around 47 acres of land at an estimated cost of Tk 33.82 billion. It will be operated under the supervision of the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC)," Md Delwar Hossain, Director (Planning and Implementation) of BCIC, told BSS on Saturday.
"After completion of the feasibility study conducted by the consultation firm Infrastructures Finance Investment Company (IFIC), the project proposal is now awaiting at the Ministry of Industry for approval in a meeting scheduled for next week," he said.
Later, the project proposal will be sent to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for approval.
"We have also sent a letter to the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) for implementation of the project under Public Private Partnership (PPP), the BCIC official said, adding: "We will float an International tender after ensuring a source of funds."
Necessary machinery will be imported from Germany, Sweden and other European countries to facilitate production at the plant, he expressed the hope.
The initiative aims to reduce the country's dependency on imported raw materials for pharmaceuticals, thereby saving foreign currency, he added.
A pharmaceutical raw material production facility, titled 'Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients and Starch', will be constructed in the Mill area, BCIC sources said.
The BCIC proposed the establishment of an Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) manufacturing complex.
