Idle jute mill land to host Tk 1,000cr soybean plant

The government yesterday signed a lease agreement to hand over an additional 14.80 acres of land at the Narsingdi unit of Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) to Jute Alliance Limited for setting up a soybean seed crushing plant.

Jute Alliance Limited is a joint venture between Samuda Chemical Complex Ltd, a sister concern of TK Group of Industries, and Bay Group. Samuda Chemical Complex will establish the plant on the leased land with an investment of about Tk 1,000 crore, according to a press release.

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“State assets that remain unused for years become a burden rather than an asset. The government aims to revive idle industrial assets through private investment,” Commerce, Industries and Textiles and Jute Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir said after the signing ceremony at the Secretariat.

He said the project is expected to generate annual output worth around Tk 3,000 crore and create about 3,000 jobs.

“The proposed soybean seed crushing plant will also strengthen domestic edible oil production and contribute to the country’s food security,” he added.

Jute Alliance had earlier leased 34.50 acres of the 77.02-acre BJMC site, where it now produces about 40 tonnes of jute products a day and employs around 3,200 workers, Md Shariful Alam, state minister for textiles and jute, said.

“The additional land will help the company further expand its production capacity and investment,” he added.

Mohammad Mostafa Haider, chairman of Jute Alliance, said the company had created around 3,000 jobs over the past two years, increased its daily production capacity from 35 tonnes to 50 tonnes, and exported all of its products.

He added that the new soybean processing project, to be implemented with support from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), will have a daily processing capacity of 3,000 tonnes of soybean seeds and produce soybean oil and soybean meal.

“The soybeans will be imported from the United States and Brazil,” said Md Shafiul Ather Taslim, director of finance and operations at TK Group of Industries.

“We expect to start production in December 2027,” he added.

Md Mamnur Rashid, chief operating officer (additional charge) of BJMC, said the unused land was leased out to help the company expand.

“They already have a factory inside the jute mill and only need extra land to expand the production unit,” he said.

State Minister Shariful said 20 of the country’s 25 closed jute mills had been selected for leasing. Agreements have been signed for 14 mills, while production has resumed at nine mills. These reopened mills are employing about 9,500 workers and producing nearly 160 tonnes of jute goods a day.

Minister Muktadir said reopening closed mills through modern technology and fresh investment remains a government priority. He said the government was encouraging capable private investors to operate the industries instead of running them directly.

Closed state-owned industrial units are being revived through long-term leases, revenue-sharing arrangements and public-private partnership (PPP) models, he added.

The minister expressed hope that production would resume at most closed industrial units within the next two years.