Closed jute mills to be reopened: Textiles and Jute Minister Khandaker Abdul Muk

The government is moving ahead in a planned manner to reopen the closed jute mills of the Textiles and Jute Ministry to increase new investment, employment and export earnings, said Commerce, Industry, Textiles and Jute Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir, MP. Commerce, Industry, Textiles and Jute Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir made these remarks while briefing journalists after an emergency meeting with stakeholders (partners) regarding the lease of closed mills at the meeting room of the Textiles and Jute Ministry on Thursday (April 23).

Textiles and Jute Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir said, "This meeting was organized to review the status of the currently closed jute mills, the possibility of new investment and how to quickly attract investment in the remaining mills."

Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir said, 'Some jute mills have already been transferred to the private sector and investors have made significant investments and created employment in them, which is quite positive.'

Regarding the leasing of jute mills this year, the Textile and Jute Minister further said, the process of transferring six more jute mills to the private sector will be completed by December this year. We expect more than 1,000 jobs to be created in each mill. In addition, there is an initial projection that new investments of about 200 crore to 500 crore taka will come depending on the mill.

Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir further said, 'According to our plan, in the near future, all the mills under the Textile and Jute Ministry will return to production-oriented activities again - some in the jute sector, some in other industrial sectors through investment. As a result, thousands of jobs will be created and valuable foreign exchange will be earned for the country and import-substituting industries will be developed.'

State Minister for Textiles and Jute Md. Shariful Alam said, 'I am inspecting the textile and jute mills and working quickly based on the experience of the overall situation. The government is working to revive the closed jute mills in economic activities and make them industrially important.

State Minister for Textiles and Jute Md. Shariful Alam, MP, Chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) Ashiq Chowdhury, Secretary of the Ministry of Textiles and Jute Abdun Naser Khan, Chairman of Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation (BTMC) and Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC), concerned senior officials, and various investor representatives were present in the meeting.

Incidentally, the activities of 25 jute mills under Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) were declared closed in 2020. Later, the process of leasing 20 mills was started, out of which 14 mills have already been leased. Of these, 9 mills have become production-oriented, providing employment to about 9,500 people.