PM opens Southeast Asia's largest fertiliser factory

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has 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 a production capacity of 9.24 lakh tonnes of fertilizer 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 undergoing 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.

The premier is scheduled to address a grand rally to be held at the Mosleh Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium here where she will also inaugurate a number of development projects in Narsingdi.

With the starting operation of the fertiliser factory, the dependency on importing fertiliser will reduce significantly as the local factories will produce together 19.24 lakh tonnes against the country's total annual demand of 26 lakh tonnes. The local factories are currently producing about 10 lakh 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 a capacity of producing 2,800 tonnes of fertiliser daily, was built at a cost of Tk 15,500 crore on 110 acres of land.

Of the total cost, the government provided Tk 4,580.21 crore, and Tk 10.920 crore 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 fertilizer 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 fertilizer will increase (about 10 per cent) by using the captured CO2.

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

/KN/