The interim government has approved a one-year extension of a major project, ‘BMR of Carew & Co (BD) Ltd (2nd Revised)’, attributing the decision to the unavailability of experts amid shifting circumstances following August 5, 2024.
“…the delay in the arrival of Indian experts due to the changing circumstances, it was not possible to conduct a trial run during the last threshing season,” says the project document obtained by UNB.
The project period has been extended for the sixth time, without involving any additional costs, as the trial run of the newly installed machinery could not be completed in the last crushing season due to delays in the arrival of Indian experts.
The project, overseen by the Ministry of Industries and implemented by the Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC), is now scheduled for completion by June 2026.
It aims to replace the 83-year-old sugar unit of Carew & Company (BD) Ltd, while maintaining the mill’s existing sugarcane crushing and sugar production capacity. It also seeks to minimise process losses through the modernisation of sugarcane crushing and sugar processing machinery.
According to project officials, almost all machinery installation and related civil works have been completed by Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory (BMTF). But the trial run, necessary to test the performance parameters of the upgraded sugar unit during a full crushing season, could not be carried out in the 2024-25 season, which ended on March 8, 2025.
“The trial run requires the presence of Indian experts to supervise and certify the performance of the modernised equipment. Due to changing unavoidable circumstances, they could not arrive in time,” an official at BSFIC told UNB.
As of June 2025, the project achieved 98% physical progress and incurred an expenditure of Tk 80.06 crore, representing 78.32% of its estimated budget of Tk 102.21 crore.
Planning Commission officials said the project, once completed, will enhance sugarcane crushing and production capacity while reducing processing losses at the country’s oldest state-owned sugar mill, which is over 83 years old.
The revised deadline will allow the mill to conduct a comprehensive trial run during the 2025-26 crushing season and ensure full commissioning of the modernised unit.
The 2024-25 threshing season ended on 8 March 2025. Due to the delay in the arrival of Indian experts due to the changed situation, it was not possible to conduct a trial run in the last threshing season.
In that context, it has been proposed to extend the period of the project with a view to completing the trial run in the current 2025-26 sugarcane threshing season.
The Economic Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the plan on April 20, 2012, involving Tk 46.57 crore to modernize Carew & Co (Bangladesh) Ltd, aiming to reduce production costs and increase output.
The project cost was later revised to Tk 102.21 crore on November 4, 2018, reflecting a 120% increase to accommodate expanded modernization needs.
Located inside the Darsana Sugar Mills compound in Chuadanga, Carew & Co is the only licensed distillery in Bangladesh, operating under the Bangladesh Sugar and Food Industries Corporation (BSFIC). It is also one of the 15 state-run sugar mills, and notably, one of the few that consistently generate profit.
Carew & Co traces its origins to 1803, when British businessman John Maxwell established the first distillery in the Indian subcontinent in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. Later, Robert Russell Carew, a spirits specialist, partnered with Maxwell and eventually took over the business with two other investors.
In 1897, the company became a joint-stock company and expanded operations to Asansol, Katni, and Darsana in what is now Bangladesh.
After Bangladesh’s independence in 1971, the government nationalised the Darsana facility in 1973, transforming it into Carew & Co (Bangladesh) Ltd.
Carew & Co now covers 3,572 acres of land, including 2,450 acres where sugarcane is cultivated. It mainly produces sugar and utilizes by-products to make liquor, vinegar, spirits and organic fertilizers.
It has more than 200 agents and 13 distributors for marketing nine brands of high-quality liquor, both domestic and foreign-style.
This industrial plan remains a vital player in the country’s agro-industrial sector as a profitable, tax-paying state enterprise along with upholding a historical legacy.