BSCIC’s 2nd plot allotment circular draws poor response

Light engineering and electrical goods entrepreneurs have shown a lacklustre response to the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation’s (BSCIC) circular for plot allocation in the industrial park in Munshiganj.

About 70 applications have been submitted against 362 plots, BSCIC says.

High land cost is one of the reasons entrepreneurs are reluctant to apply. They say they have to pay Tk 8.1 lakh for each decimal while the authorities acquired land by paying thrice as much as the existing rate of around Tk 1.5 lakh per decimal in that area.

BSCIC has so far issued two circulars, and no one applied when the first one was issued in March last year. The second one was issued in August, and land prices were reduced from Tk 11.95 lakh per decimal to Tk 8.1 lakh in that.

Entrepreneurs were allowed to submit applications in two ways – directly to BSCIC or either through Bangladesh Engineering Industry Owners Association (BEIOA) or Bangladesh Electrical Merchandise Manufacturers Association (BEMMA).

BEIOA President Abdur Razzaque told The Business Post no one had shown interest in submitting an application through his association.

“In Munshiganj, each katha (1.65 decimals) currently costs Tk 3-4 lakh. Even if entrepreneurs bought the land themselves, prices would have been less than what BSCIC is asking for.”

He said light engineering entrepreneurs had urged BSCIC to reduce prices further.

“BSCIC told us it had reduced prices once as per its capacity and cannot decrease more. We later met high officials of the industries ministry, and they said they could not reduce prices without subsidies or stimulus from the prime minister,” he also said.

“We then wrote a letter to the Prime Minister’s Office describing the whole situation and requesting to reduce prices,” Razzaque added.

He further said, “If there are vacant plots, those might be allotted to foreign companies. The demand for light engineering goods is high, and the prime minister announced light engineering as the ‘product of the year’ in 2020.”

BEMMA former president Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said no one had shown interest in submitting an application via the association and the price should be Tk 4 lakh per decimal at most.

Mohammad Abdullah, officer-in-charge of BSCIC Munshiganj, told The Business Post only small and medium entrepreneurs had applied for plots, with some applying for more than one.

The industrial park’s progress is 87 per cent, according to the November 2021 report of BSCIC, while Project Director Abdul Jalil Talukder said in late February this year that 91 per cent had been completed. He stressed the project would be completed by June.

“The circular said applications would have to be submitted within 45 days. But as it drew a poor response, we are still accepting applications. Plots could be finally allotted in July-August,” Jalil said.

The industrial park will be able to accommodate over 300 units and is expected to create 10,750 jobs. It was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council in June 2016, and the estimated initial cost was Tk 213.26 crore.

The project was supposed to be completed by June 2019 but was later extended till June this year due to land acquisition complexities and other reasons. After the extension, the cost rose to Tk 309.59 crore.

The park is being built on 50 acres of land. Plots will be equally allotted to light engineering and electrical goods entrepreneurs.