Pran-RFL going for Tk 1,700cr expansion

Pran-RFL Group, one of the country's leading industrial houses, plans to invest Tk 1,700 crore to expand its footprint in consumer goods, poultry, and mobile assembling, the group said yesterday.

"Bangladesh has a large consumer product market, with the majority of products being edible oil, flour, lentil, salt, and so on," said Kamruzzaman Kamal, director (marketing) of Pran-RFL Group.

"We plan to manufacture a wide range of sugar-free consumer goods and will build a factory in Gazipur to do so," he said at a briefing with journalists at a hotel in Cox's Bazar.

"Besides we are investing in some other sectors including footwear, glassware and poultry industry," he said, adding that the expansion would create about 20,000 new jobs.

The group said it was establishing an agro processing park at Muktarpur in Gazipur to establish a seed crushing mill to extract edible oil.

The 180-bigha area will also have flour, salt and pulse and feed mills, all set up with an investment of Tk 1,500 crore. Production could begin at the end of the year, it said.

Operating in diversified areas ranging from agro-processing, dairy, plastics, electrics to furniture, Pran-RFL has 23 factories and employs nearly 129,000 people to market its products locally and globally.

The group exported nearly $420 million-worth products in fiscal year 2020-21, it said.

The group has been on an expansion drive in recent years.

Pran said it was establishing another plant to make smart and feature phones along with mobile accessories, including headphone, battery and charger.

The unit will be established in Narsingdi with an investment of Tk 10 crore. The group plans to launch the handsets from March this year.

The group also plans to open a garment factory in Rajshahi's Godagari upazila in February this year. The factory is expected to generate around 2,500 jobs for rural women.

With an investment of Tk 40 crore, the group is setting up poultry farms in Moulvibazar and Habiganj districts with a yearly production target of 15 crore eggs and 360 tonnes of broiler chicken meat.