Shahjalal Fertiliser Factory
PM to lay foundation on March 24
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will formally lay the foundation of Shahjalal Fertiliser Factory at Fenchuganj in the district on March 24, sources said yesterday.
The factory, with a capacity of producing 1,760 tonnes of urea and 1,000 tonnes of ammonia per day will be located adjacent to the existing state-run Natural Gas Fertiliser Factory (NGFF).
The NGFF authority would soon hand over the 150 acre site at the existing west housing colony of the factory, said Rasamay Chakrabarty, managing director of NGFF.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the project worth Tk 5,409 crore, 73 percent of which will be provided by China, at a meeting on December 1, last year.
A Chinese company which has been awarded the contract for setting up the factory will be completing its construction by June 2015, sources said.
The Chinese government and the China Exim Bank would provide Tk 3,986 crore in project loan with 2 per cent interest. The rest would be financed by the government of Bangladesh. The loan is to be repaid in 20 years.
The location for the Shahjalal Fertiliser Factory was first selected near the Laltila area years ago, where a signboard can still be seen.
However, there had been no progress made during the last 20 years since the age-old factory of the BCIC was about to be shut on technical grounds, a high level technical committee intervened and suggested for continuing production in the old factory by overhaul it and to go for setting up a new factory nearby.
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