Pran to reopen two state textile mills under PPP

Two factories of state-owned Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation (BTMC) are being reopened after 27 years through a private-public partnership (PPP) with Pran-RFL Group.

RR Textile Mills in Sitakunda and Rajshahi Textile Mills will be relaunched after being renamed Chittagong RR Textiles Limited and Barendra Rajshahi Textiles Limited respectively.

Pran-RFL Group and the BTMC signed an agreement to this end at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka on Sunday, according to a press release.

Addressing the event as chief guest, Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hossain, the interim government's adviser to the Ministry of Textiles and Jute, said the government was at the final stages of reopening five other mills under the BTMC.

Besides, efforts will be made to reopen 17 other mills that have been shut for years through lease or PPP, he added.

Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, chairman of Pran-RFL Group, said they have taken over the mills for a 30-year term and plan to reopen them within a month.

Outlining the conglomerate's plans regarding the factories, he said they were taking initiatives to turn those into green units.

"We will not leave any single inch of space unused. We are building solar panels in the factories," he said, adding that numerous employment opportunities would be generated through the reopening of the mills.

He also said the Barendra Rajshahi Textile mill would be turned into the largest mill in North Bengal. "People will not have to leave their homes and go to Dhaka. People of North Bengal will get an opportunity to work in their locality," he said.

Rajshahi Textile Mill was established on 26.34 acres of land in Sapura of Rajshahi in 1975. It has been closed since 1997.

RR Textile Mills was established on 19.48 acres of land in 1963 and has been shut since 1997.

According to the deal, Pran-RFL Group will pay Tk 10 crore to use RR Textile Mills for three years. Afterwards, it will pay Tk 3.22 crore per year.

For Rajshahi Textile Mills, the group will pay Tk 6 crore for the first three years and Tk 1.71 crore for each subsequent year.