Initiatives to restart Pakshi paper mill
North Bengal Paper Mill was established in 1966 on 133 acres of land on the bank of the River Padma near Hardinge Bridge.
It started production in 1975. Despite its production capacity of 15000 tons per month, it was closed on December 30 in 2002, leaving around 1100 people unemployed.
The last CBA general secretary Rashid Ullah said that the mill was fully in operation when it was closed.
Sugarcane bagasse, used as raw materials for producing paper, is available in the region. But the industry incurred losses due to government policy and some managerial faults. Production cost of each ton of paper was around Tk 42000 but it was sold at Tk 40000 per ton. Immediate after the closing of the mill, the price of paper shot up to Tk 70000 in the market.
The mill ran with farness oil, which caused high production cost. But if it would run with gas, its production cost decreased by 40 percent. When the gas connection was imminent, the mill was closed down suddenly.
There are 42 officials including managing director, manager administration and manager accounts are now working at the factory. Besides, 50 security personnel are deployed at the mill.
Current managing director AKM Mohiuddin, who was appointed on January 26, told Prothom Alo that the authorities appointed him aiming at restarting the mill.
BCIC officials sat twice with industrial ministry in this regard. Then a 10-member technical team visited the factory where they stayed from 22 May to 2 June. They had examined the ins and outs of the mill and submitted a report on how it can be profitable.
The expert team found the main machine workable. They suggested importing pulp or use recyclable paper as raw materials instead of bagasse. It will be capable of producing 10000 Metric Tons of paper in a month, they concluded.
The managing director said that the suggestions of the expert team are being readied to submit to the BCIC Planning Cell in this month. If they approve it, initiatives will be taken to run the mill, he added.