COX'S BAZAR: A household name in Bangladesh and beyond with a slew of consumer goods, PRAN-RFL group now unveils a massive Tk 17-billion investment plan to strengthen further its foothold on the corporate arena.
A cynosure in an array of new production units is an upcountry apparel factory-far away from the existing over-concentrated hubs of the export industry. It will establish a garment unit in Godagari of Rajshahi district, close by the major river Padma, to manufacture 'Polo' shirts and other apparel items, says a company spokesman.
Apart from enhancing its production base in consumer items, the company is setting up a new smart and feature phones-manufacturing/ assembling unit to spread its wings wider, encompassing the tech sector.
The fresh business plan, which is expected to generate huge jobs, was rolled out by the company's Marketing Director, Kamruzzaman Kamal, at a local hotel here on Thursday night on the occasion of the company's 40 years of journey.
Under its new investment programme, the PRAN-RFL group is developing a new agro-processing industrial park at Muktarpur in Gazipur for setting up production lines of some key consumer items, he said.
A new soybean-seed-processing plant and production units of some other consumer items, namely flour, salt, lentils, starch and feedmeal, will be set up on 180 acres of land there, he mentioned.
Besides, the company has planned to start producing/assembling smart and feature phones under the brand name 'Proton' along with some other cellphone accessories like headphones, chargers and batteries at its Gorashal Industrial Park, he mentioned.
"The new investment plan aims to boost the production capacity of the PRAN-RFL Group to enhance further the company's shares both in the domestic and export markets," says Mr Kamal.
He goes on highlighting company vision: "The main goal of the new investment programme is make our company a market leader, especially in the consumer and plastic- business sectors of the country."
Starting its journey from Rangpur in 1981 with a very small - scale venture, the PRAN-RFL group has now got production units at 23 locations in 512 acres of land across Bangladesh.
The company is operating its business through some 1,661 outlets across the country, company sources said.
Besides, it has a total of around 100,000 contact farmers throughout the country to supply farm produce for its food-processing plants.
Having a total of more than 6,300 product bases, the PRAN-RFL conglomerate is exporting different items to as many as 145 countries.
Its export destinations include major economies like Australia, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, KSA, UAE and many European countries.
