The government has decided to revive 13 textiles mills that were shutdown 25 years ago due to huge losses and run them under a public-private partnership (PPP) initiative.
The Ministry of Textiles and Jute official said that it would be the textile sector’s largest project, and Tk 152 billion set to be allocated.
The allocation will be spent to purchase new machines, replace the existing ones, and to operate these mills. The project will also ensure proper use of 380.47 acres of land allocated for the sector, which currently has a value of Tk 15.92 billion.
The proposal of Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation (BTMC), which works under the ministry, placed the proposal before the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs last week to restart the 13 mills.
State Minister for Textiles and Jute Mirza Azam said “Our textiles industry will stand on its feet again now that we have taken the initiative to revive the mills under PPP.”
He said the ministry has already completed the process to restart three of the mills.
The 13 mills up for overhaul are – RR Textile Mill, Amin Jute and Textile Mills and The Asiatic Cotton Mill in Chittagong; Rangamati Textile Mill at Ghagra, Rangamati; Magura Textile Mill in Magura; Bengal Textile Mill at Noapara, Jessore; Rajshahi Textile Mill at Sapura, Rajshahi; Sundarban Textile Mill in Satkhira; Dinajpur Textile Mill and Jalil Textile Mill in Dinajpur; Darwani Textile Mill in Nipharmari; Dost Textile Mill at Ranirhat, Feni; and Afsar Cotton Mill at Savar, Dhaka.
According to the proposal, the PPP’s duration will be 30 years, but could be renewed.
Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation will be the major partner of the PPP while rest of the shares will go to private parties.
It says the private parties will implement the project, maintain the mills and market the textile products.
Of the 86 state-owned textile mills, BTMC handed over 60 mills to the Privatisation Commission between 1977 and 2013, and runs 24 factories across the country at present, reports, Knitting Industry.
A little over one year ago, the government had taken another initiative backed by Chinese funding to modernise 24 state-owned jute mills, with the expectation of yielding an annual net profit of around Tk 9.758 billion and create 24,000 new jobs.