Staff Reporter :
The government has decided to revive 13 textiles mills under a public-private partnership (PPP) initiative.
These mills had remained close since 1992 following financial crisis due to recurrent operating losses, officials said.
They said, the Bangladesh Textiles Mills Corporation (BTMC) has already placed a project involving Tk15,200 crore to revive the mills.
The proposed project would be placed to the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs tomorrow (Wednesday) for its approval.
“The government is keen to restart operation of the 13 textile mills under the Bangladesh Textiles Mills Corporation (BTMC) through the PPP mode,” State Minister for Textiles and Jute Mirza Azam told The New Nation yesterday.
“These mills were closed due to mounting losses,” he said.
The 13 mills are RR Textile Mills, Amin Jute and Textile Mills and The Asiatic Cotton Mills in Chittagong, Rangamati Textile Mill at Ghagra in Rangamati, Magura Textile Mills in Magura, Bengal Textile Mills at Noapara in Jessore, Rajshahi Textile Mills at Sapura in Rajshahi, Sundarban Textile Mills in Satkhira, Dinajpur Textile Mills and Jalil Textile Mills in Dinajpur; Darwani Textile Mill in Nipharmari, Dost Textile Mills at Ranirhat in Feni and Afsar Cotton Mill at Savar in Dhaka.
“The Ministry has already completed the process to restart three of the mills,” according to Mirza Azam .
He also said that the present government was keen to restart operation of all the closed mills and factories to create more employment opportunities.
According to the BTMC’s proposal, the duration of PPP will be 30 years having a renewal provision. The Corporation will hold major stake of the PPP while rest of the shares will go to private parties.
The private parties will implement the project, maintain the mills and market the products to be produced by the mills.
Presently, the BTMC runs 24 textile mills across the country out of total 86 public textile mills. It handed over 60 mills to the Privatisation Commission between 1977 and 2013 for selling them to private parties.
