Advisor to the Ministry of Commerce and Textiles and Jute Sheikh Bashiruddin said that initiatives have been taken to launch closed jute mills in the country through lease to the private sector. As leaseholders, businessmen are getting the opportunity to invest in closed jute mills. As a result, new employment opportunities are being created.
He said this while briefing media personnel after inspecting the production activities of the privately managed Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation’s Daulatpur Jute Mill in Khulna on Monday (February 10, 2025) afternoon.
Bashiruddin said that the closed government textile mill in Kurigram was released to the private sector through lease last week. It is expected that the process of granting leases to three more mills will be completed this week. In the case of launching jute mills under government management, nothing has been fruitful in the long term except for losses of thousands of crores of taka. Therefore, there is a plan to release the government-owned jute and textile mills to the private sector.
To keep all the existing jute mills in the country running, about 4 million metric tons of jute are required annually, but the country’s jute production is only 1.2 million metric tons. In addition, the annual production of jute worldwide is only 2.5 million metric tons. In that case, it is not realistic to keep so many institutions running with jute alone. Therefore, the conditions for leasing jute mills to the private sector are being relaxed, he added, and opportunities are being provided to set up other industries along with jute-based industries.
The advisor to the Ministry of Commerce, Textiles and Jute further said that the Daulatpur Jute Mill in Khulna has created employment for about seven hundred people as it was started as a private initiative, and employment opportunities for three thousand more people will gradually be created here.
Stating that such successful initiatives and investments will open the way for employment, the advisor said that efforts are continuing to move forward in a positive and profitable process by keeping the production of jute products and shoes at the mill under private initiative. Such innovative initiatives are not as effective when implemented by the government.
Responding to questions from media personnel, the advisor further said that the existing syndicate in the market for manipulating the prices of daily necessities is not stronger than the government. The government is monitoring the stock and supply of various products in the country. The temporary crisis in the edible oil market at the moment will be over in a few days.
Khulna Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Saiful Islam and officials of Daulatpur Jute Mill were present during the inspection.
