SANGSAD BHABAN, June 6, 2024 (BSS) - 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.