Bangladesh’s oldest cement plant, Chhatak Cement Factory, which operates under the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) of the Ministry of Industry, reportedly ceased operations due to a severe shortage of gas and limestone near the Surma River, near the India-Bangladesh border. According to local media, the plant remains idle and is struggling to secure essential raw materials.
In 2016 BCIC initiated a project costing BDT6.67bn (US$54.8m) to convert the plant’s production process from wet to dry and increase its production capacity to 1500tpd. However, the project cost has been revised multiple times, from BDT8.9bn to the most recent figure of BDT14.17bn. Despite the project achieving 90.7 per cent physical progress and 58.67 per cent financial progress, the plant remains non-operational because key raw materials, specifically gas and limestone, are unavailable.
The other critical factor hindering production was the absence of a new gas pipeline and the failure to establish a ropeway for importing limestone from India. The planned ropeway, intended to transport limestone from the Komorrah Limestone Mining Co (KLMC) in Meghalaya, India, remains incomplete.
During the 17th meeting of the project’s steering committee, held on 8 December 2024 and chaired by Zakia Sultana, the Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Industries, it was revealed that the project’s timeline and budget would require further extension. The committee proposed extending the project deadline to June 2026 and allocating an additional BDT3000m to construct a 43km gas pipeline from Sylhet to Chhatak.
By Abdul Rab Siddiqi, Pakistan
