Bangladesh govt takes 8 jute mills back from private firms

The Bangladesh government has taken 8 jute and textile mills back from the private sector as they violated major conditions that were set when the state-owned mills were handed over. For a long time, the authorities had kept these enterprises closed after taking them over from the government, according to the jute and textile ministry of the country.

As the mills remained closed for a long time, it led to unemployment of thousands of mill workers, thus negating the primary objective of handing them over to private authorities, said the ministry in a statement.

The mill authorities failed to pay their dues to the Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation (BTMC), Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) and some other financial institutions as were agreed upon. The authorities also did not comply with major conditions, prompting the government to take the mils back from them, said media reports quoting the ministry.

The mills that have been taken back by the government are Fouzi Jute Mills, Ghorashal, Narsingdi; Madaripur Textile Mill, Kokil Textile Mills Limited in Brahmanbaria; A R Hawlader Jute Mills Limited in Madaripur; Eagle Star Textile Mills Limited in Chittagong; Jalil Textile Mills Limited in Fouzdarhat, Chittagong; Dhaka Jute Mills Limited; and Gausia Jute Mills Limited in Dhaka.