63 jute mills not in operation: Minister

Sixty-three jute mills in Bangladesh are currently inoperative, textiles and jute minister Golam Dastagir Gazi told parliament on Tuesday, reports UNB.

Of them, 56 are private. Currently, there are 281 private jute mills and 33 state-owned mills in the country, according to him.

Seven state-owned jute mills also remain closed, he said, replying to a question from treasury bench MP Tanveer Imam (Sirajganj-4).

Gazi said the number of mills under Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) was 27 in July 2018. The number increased to 33 after the government took back ownership of six mills.

These six mills and another one remain inoperative due to legal complications, he added.

Replying to another question from Awami League MP Abdul Aziz (Sirajganj-3), the minister said jute was cultivated on 618,632 hectares in the last fiscal year.

Gazi said jute was exported to Pakistan, India, China, Nepal, Ivory Coast, Djibouti, Vietnam, Brazil, El Salvador, Russia, UK, Tunisia and Germany.

Railways minister Nurul Islam Sujan told parliament that the Bangladesh Railways carried some 90 million passengers in the last fiscal year.

“The Bangladesh Railways carried 77.8 million passengers in the 2016-17 fiscal year and 90.05 million passengers in 2017-18 fiscal,” he said replying to a question from AL MP Nizam Uddin Hazari (Feni-2).