Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu yesterday said the government will not sell out any state-owned enterprises under any circumstances for the sake of the greater interest of the country.
“We’ve no plan to sell the existing state-owned industries,” he categorically told a meeting with a delegation from the Bangladesh Sugar Mills Workers and Employees Federation at his ministry in Dhaka.
He said the government has been working relentlessly for establishing a sustainable industrial development for the future generation, which will require huge amount of land.
The minister’s announcement, however, runs counter to the plan of immediate past regime of the Awami League-led alliance government to lease out the unused land of the SOEs.
In September last year, the commission planned to lease out 1,700 acres of unused land belonging to 39 SOEs.
It estimated that the total area of unused land in the 150 industrial units could be more than 5,000 acres equivalent to 14 times of Dhaka EPZ having 361 acres of land or enough to accommodate over 6,000 industrial plots of Dhaka EPZ standard.
The commission in its earlier survey identified 1,288 acres of unused land of 39 out of 150 industrial units, of which six were found in full operation, nine partially and the rest remain closed. In the second phase, 400 acres of land was identified, making the total unused land of 1,700 acres.
An 11-member committee, headed by Executive Chairman of Board of Investment Syed A Samad, was also formed to deal with the issue.
The committee members include chairman of Privatisation Commission, governor of Bangladesh Bank, Prime Minister’s principal secretary, and secretaries to finance division, textile and jute, commerce and industries ministries.
Earlier, the commission had proposed to set up 257 industrial units through leasing out the unused or additional land. According to the plan, the government will lease out the public lands to the private entrepreneurs initially for 35 years.
If the government leases out five acres of land to one industrial unit, about 257 new industrial units could be set up on 1,700 acres, the commission said in its proposal.
The new industrial units will see more than Tk5,000 crore in investment in the next two years if the average investment per unit is Tk20 crore, the commission said.
If each industrial unit creates employment for 200 persons, a total of 50,000 jobs may be generated, the commission estimated. The commission also said if the proposal is implemented, scope for more industrialisation will be created without affecting the existing SOEs.
