The government has allocated Tk. 2,510 crore in the proposed budget for FY2024- 25 for the Ministry of Industries.
“I am proposing a budget allocation of Tk. 2,510 crore in the budget for FY2024-25 for the Ministry of Industries,” said Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali while placing around Taka 7.97 lakh crore national budget for FY25 at Jatiya Sangsad here this afternoon.
In his speech, Ali said under the leadership of the Prime Minister, significant progress has been made in the country’s industrial sector.
“The private sector is the main driving force of the industrialization of the country. To bring dynamism in this sector, we are working with the aim of improving production technology and product quality, innovating new products, increasing international cooperation and achieving excellence in technology and providing necessary support to private sector industrial enterprises,” he said.
At the same time, he said, the government is providing necessary guidelines and carrying out relevant activities to diversify exports by diversifying industrial products to build a sustainable economy.
“The contribution of the industrial sector to GDP was 24.3 percent in FY 2007-2008, which increased to 37.65 percent in FY2022-23. In line with the Eighth Five Year Plan, the government is focusing on industrial expansion to increase the contribution of industry to GDP to 41.86 percent,” he added.
He said with an aim to reduce dependency on urea importation, commercial production of urea fertilizer has commenced under the auspices of the “Shahjalal Fertilizer Project” in Fenchuganj, Sylhet costing Tk. 4,985 crore.
Besides, he said, environment-friendly, energy-efficient and modern technology-based Ghorashal-Palash Urea Fertilizer Factory with the production capacity of 9 lakh 24 thousand metric tons has been launched.
“A project is being undertaken to construct 13 buffer warehouses at a cost of Tk 545 crore 33 lakh in the 1st phase and 34 buffer warehouses at a cost of Tk 1,983 crore 4 lakh in the 2nd phase. Fifty four godowns have been constructed under the project titled “Godown Construction for Temporary Facilitating Chemicals Storage”. With the help of the BSCIC, a total of 82 industrial cities have been set up in different regions of the country in environment-friendly locations,” he added.
Considering the big demand of the market for Halal products worldwide, he said, BSTI has become a member of the Standards and Metrology Institute for Islamic Countries (SMIIC), an international standard setting organization and has already issued 84 Halal certificates.
“As a result, foreign exchange is being earned through the export of halal products worth about Tk 900 crore annually.
To increase the export of halal products to the growing global market, we have formulated the Halal Certification Policy-2023 and in light of that, we are taking effective initiatives to increase the export by issuing certificates,” he added.
Ali said the government mainly provides loans on easy terms, refinancing facilities for infrastructure development and free training to support the development of cottage industries, micro, small and medium enterprises.
“We are implementing a number of activities to support the creation of small and cottage industry entrepreneurs, promotion of products produced by entrepreneurs, expansion, marketing of sales products. Under the sub- contracting support program of BSCIC, 785 large industries have been linked with the small and cottage industries from FY 2009-10 to 2023-24. We have taken the initiatives to enact sub- contracting legislation to increase the linkage of large-scale industries with small and medium scale industries. Besides, steps have been taken to create opportunities for small entrepreneurs to showcase and market their products through the BSCIC Online Market,” he added.
Ali said the government has made the construction of Industrial Effluent Treatment Plants (CETPs and ETPs) compulsory to meet the challenges of climate change and to protect environment.
“We have already constructed CETP centrally in Savar Tannery Industrial City and taken measures to keep its four modules running 24 hours a day. There is an ongoing process for liquid waste treatment. To facilitate local and foreign investment, we have taken measures such as the registration
of new industries, renewal of registration of expired industries, cancellation of registration, establishment of sub- contracting connections, application for training and providing e-certificates after training, contractor registration etc. through one-stop service,” he added.
He said Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Industrial Park has been set up on 200 acres of land in Gazaria upazila of Munshiganj district with the aim of producing raw materials for pharmaceutical industries, which is one of the most promising export-oriented industries in the country.
“In addition to the BSCIC Leather Industrial City at Savar, we are planning to set up three more leather industrial cities in Rajshahi, Chattogram and Dhaka to earn foreign exchange by strengthening the leather sector. Besides, 50 acres of land has been initially demarcated at Ramnagar Bhatpara Mauza of the Sadar Upazila for setting up a new leather industrial city at Rajarhat in Jessore district,” he added.
