In a bid to meet the local and export markets' growing demand, the country's leading business conglomerate RFL Group has opened another bicycle factory at Gangachara in Rangpur.
Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi formally inaugurated this factory through a program on Thursday, reads a press release.
Apart from manufacturing bicycles, the 70,000-square-foot factory will manufacture frames, forks, tyres, tubes and some other bicycle components.
The factory has received an investment of approximately Tk60 crore and will employ around 1,000 people.
RFL Group has been manufacturing and marketing bicycles since 2014.
The first bicycle factory of RFL is located at Shayestaganj in Habiganj. The factory currently has an annual production capacity of eight lakh pieces of bicycle.
RFL-manufactured bicycles are currently exported to 15 countries, including England, the Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Austria and Belgium.
Moreover, the bicycle manufactured by RFL Group for the local market is very popular.
Addressing the program, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said: “We had fought during the War of Liberation and liberated the country. Now, the Pran-RFL group is working for the economic freedom of the country. The group works with farmers as well as people living in the villages. Pran products are now everywhere in India, especially in Assam. This all the stories of our victory.”
Ahsan Khan Chowdhury, Chairman and CEO of Pran-RFL Group, said, RFL Group launched the second bicycle factory in Gangachra, Rangpur in the context of growing demand in the local and export markets. All the bikes for the local market will be manufactured from this factory.
The factory's annual production capacity will be six lakh pieces once it is fully operational.
The factory has been set up with the objective of creating skilled manpower in this sector as well as creating employment in the northern part of the country.
He also said: “The country's light engineering sector has developed due to various steps taken by the current government. The import dependence on various products in this sector, including bicycles, has decreased. Not only that, but the export earnings of this sector is also gradually increasing. We hope that the light engineering sector will be able to establish a strong position in export trade of the country very soon, and RFL Group wants to lead this sector from the front.”
Opposition Chief Whip Md Mashiur Rahman Ranga, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Commerce Tapan Kanti Ghosh, DIG of Rangpur Range of Bangladesh Police Mohammad Abdul Alim Mahmud, Senior Vice President of FBCCI Mostofa Azad Chowdhury Babu, Deputy Commissioner of Rangpur Dr Chitralikha Naznen, Superintendent of Police Ferdous Ali Chowdhury and Managing Director of RFL Group RN Paul spoke on the occasion.
