Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) has received around 55 bids from domestic and international investors wanting to invest in 25 state-run jute mills scheduled to close in July 2020 for modernization, according to BJMC Chairman Md Abdur Rouf yesterday.
According to him, the government has chosen to lease all 25 to the private sector in order to reopen them through joint ventures, public-private partnerships, or government-to-government (G2G) agreements.
In addition, an inter-ministerial committee finalised the terms and conditions for operating the jute mills in the private sector.
The government will not spend any money modernising the mills, says BJMC chairman. At most, it could remove the old machinery if the investors wanted, he said. The BJMC will remain as a monitoring body to oversee whether investors were complying with the terms and conditions. It will also lay off 90 per cent of its 2,900 staff and officials and maintain a small workforce only to monitor compliance issues.
