9 jute mills resuming production: Minister

In a major structural shift aimed at reviving Bangladesh’s legacy industrial sector, production has officially resumed at nine closed state-owned jute mills under newly executed private sector lease agreements.

The announcement was made by Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muktadir during a press briefing on Thursday at the Ministry of Textiles and Jute.

The initiative is part of a aggressive government strategy to transform idle, liability-ridden public assets into productive, employment-generating resources. Out of 25 shuttered state-owned jute mills, 20 have been selected for leasing, with 14 agreements already finalized.

The 9 operational mills have already generated employment for roughly 9,500 individuals and are contributing 160 metric tonnes of jute products daily to the economy.

The briefing followed the signing of a fresh lease agreement, handing over an additional 14.80 acres of land belonging to the Narsingdi unit of Bangladesh Jute Mills Limited (BJML) to Jute Alliance Limited. Prior to this, Jute Alliance Limited had leased 34.5 acres of the facility, which currently employs 3,200 people and yields 40 tonnes of daily output.

“If state-owned assets remain idle for a long time, they become liabilities rather than assets,” Minister Muktadir remarked, emphasizing that the government is steering away from direct business operations to foster efficient private-sector investment.

The new leasing push is projected to attract around Tk 1,050 crore in private investments, potentially yielding Tk 3,000 crore in annual production value and creating 3,000 more jobs.

The government is deploying various Public-Private Partnership (PPP) models, including revenue-sharing and long-term leases, aiming to revive most idle state enterprises within the next two years.

Addressing global export headwinds caused by geopolitical conflicts and sluggish European demand, the Minister noted that the local ready-made garment (RMG) sector’s pivot toward man-made fibers and value-added goods will eventually maximize foreign currency earnings even with stable export volumes.

State Minister for Textiles and Jute, Md Shariful Alam, echoed this optimism, reaffirming that reopening closed factories under the BJMC and BTMC remains a core electoral commitment.

Representing the private sector, Mohammad Mostafa Haider of Jute Alliance Limited revealed that their operational facility currently exports 100 percent of its production, having boosted daily output to 50 metric tonnes.

Looking forward, the company plans an aggressive diversification into food security with a Tk 1,000 crore seed crushing project backed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

The project will process 3,000 tonnes of seeds daily to produce soybean oil and meal, adding another 3,000 jobs.

The agreement ceremony was also attended by Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani and Textiles and Jute Secretary Sharaf Uddin Ahmed Chowdhury, marking a coordinated bureaucratic push behind the nation’s industrial resurgence.