PM Hasina opens Ghorashal-Palash Urea Fertiliser Factory

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday inaugurated the newly constructed Ghorashal-Palash Urea Fertiliser Factory (GPUFF) in Narsingdi, the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia, which is expected to help slash fertiliser imports significantly.

She opened the environment friendly energy saving and modern technology based factory with production capacity of 924,000 tonnes of fertiliser annually by unveiling the inaugural plaque at a civic rally on the GPUFF premises in Palash Upazila.

State-of-the-art technology is installed to run the factory smoothly while skilled manpower has already been prepared through proper training by foreign experts since the project’s inception.

Construction of a railway line is underway for connecting the factory to Ghorashal Railway Station aimed at facilitating transportation.

The prime minister, as well, inspected the factory before its inauguration.
She also released commemorative stamps, opening envelopes and a special canceller marking the opening of the GPUFF.

A video documentary on the project was screened at the function.
Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun MP, State Minister Kamal Ahmed Mojumder MP, Anwarul Ashraf Khan, MP and Senior Secretary Zakia Sultana were present.

With the starting operation of the fertiliser factory, the dependency on importing fertiliser will reduce significantly as the local factories will together produce nearly 1.93 million tonnes against the country’s total annual demand of 2.6 million tonnes.

The local factories are currently producing about 1 million tonnes while the rest of the annual demand is met through import.

The factory will create 30,000 jobs, according to the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC).

The factory which has the capacity of producing 2,800 tonnes of fertiliser daily was built at a cost of Tk 155 billion on 110 acres of land.

Of the total cost, the government provided Tk 45.80 billion, and Tk 109.2 million was obtained through business loan schemes from JICA, HSBC, and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Limited.

The factory’s two steam gas generators are capable of producing 32 MW of electricity while the plant needs 28 MW to run.

It is the first fertiliser factory in Bangladesh where the environmental pollutant Carbon-Di-Oxide (CO2) will be captured from the primary reformer flue gas and the production of urea fertiliser will increase (about 10pc ) by using the captured CO2.

This is “modern, sophisticated, energy efficient and green” fertiliser factory in the country which will reduce the import of urea fertiliser and save hard-earned foreign currency.

The prime minister called upon the countrymen to face any situation with courage as Bangladesh must march ahead confronting all the hurdles like arson violence.

“Bangladesh is progressing ahead and will move further by overcoming man-made disasters like arson violence alongside the natural ones. I call upon the countrymen to face the situation with courage,” she said.
She was addressing a civic rally after inauguration of the Ghorashal-Palash Urea Fertiliser Factory.

The prime minister said she has to move ahead confronting various impediments.

“None can stop Bangladesh’s journey towards development,” she insisted.
The prime minister said, “The BNP-Jamaat clique has again started arson terrorism like in 2013-14 ahead of the national election.”

“They have again started the arson terrorism. I don’t know when their conscience will rise and will be sensible,” she said.

The prime minister reminded all that the Awami League was not able to come to power in the 2001 general election despite getting maximum votes due to local and foreign conspiracies.

Sheikh Hasina further said the Awami League did not come to power at that time as she refused to sell gas at the request of America, saying that they will sell gas only after meeting the local demand and keeping storage for 50 years.

“Bangabandhu’s daughter has no intention to come to power after selling the country’s resources,” she said.

Sheikh Hasina also called upon the people not to leave even a single inch of land uncultivated so that Bangladesh would never need to beg anyone for food.

She said Bangladesh today is a developing country, which would move forward further and be Smart Bangladesh, having a smart population, smart government, smart economy and smart society.

The prime minister inspected the factory before its inauguration.
She also released commemorative stamps, opening envelopes and a special canceller marking the opening of the GPUFF.

A video documentary on the project was screened at the function.
The prime minister later addressed a grand rally at the Mosleh Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium here where she also inaugurated a number of development projects in Narsingdi in the afternoon.

This is “modern, sophisticated, energy efficient and green” fertiliser factory in the country which will reduce the import of urea fertiliser and save hard-earned foreign currency.