Rangpur has been waiting for a second industrial estate under the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) for decades, with repeated proposals for new land failing to secure approval from the relevant ministry.

The prolonged delay has left aspiring entrepreneurs struggling to find industrial plots, limiting the expansion of small and cottage industries, hampering job creation and pushing many educated and less-educated job seekers to migrate to Dhaka and other major cities in search of work.

BSCIC began its operations in Rangpur in 1967, acquiring 20.68 acres of land in the city’s CO Bazar area and dividing it into 83 plots for industrial entrepreneurs.

The existing estate now houses 25 industrial establishments, including Rangpur Foundry Limited (RFL), GFL, Khan Foundry Limited, Chowdhury Ice and Cold Storage Limited, Bismillah Metal Industries, Nine Jute Mills, Himadri Cold Storage, Rangpur Flour Mills, Northern Timber Industries, Phoenix Chemical and Plastic Industries, and Milk Vita.

Of the 25 establishments, 22 are currently operational, according to Rangpur BSCIC sources.

Around 75 percent of the plots are occupied by RFL, further limiting opportunities for new entrepreneurs.

The estate has 13 plots in category A, 39 in category B, 16 in category C, 14 in category D and one special plot, classified according to their size.

Industrial units operating in the estate benefit from facilities such as access to loans on relatively favourable terms, electricity and road connectivity.

The estate has also created employment opportunities for local people.

However, the number of available plots has failed to keep pace with rising entrepreneurial interest, particularly since Rangpur became a separate administrative division in 2010.

An initiative to establish a second BSCIC industrial estate was taken in 2002.

A 50-acre site at Damdama, beside the Rangpur-Dhaka highway, was selected, and an application was submitted to the Industries Ministry seeking permission to acquire the land.

The proposal, however, did not progress.

More recently, on April 30, 2024, the then deputy commissioner sent a report to the relevant ministry identifying 100 acres of potential land in Haridebpur and Ramanathpur mouzas under Rangpur Sadar upazila.

The report included estimated land prices and sketch maps for establishing the proposed industrial estate.

No decision has yet been communicated on the proposal, leaving the initiative stalled, local sources said.

Entrepreneur Abdur Rahim said a second BSCIC estate would help local businesses establish factories by providing industrial plots, access to loans on favourable terms, reliable road connectivity and better access to electricity.

He said entrepreneurs operating within an industrial estate could also obtain licences and other necessary approvals from government offices more easily.

“Establishing a second BSCIC industrial estate is essential to overcoming the stagnation in industrialisation in Rangpur,” he said, urging the authorities to ensure gas supplies to the proposed estate.

Another entrepreneur, Harun-or-Rashid, said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has emphasised industrialisation in Rangpur.

He called for the speedy establishment of a second BSCIC estate, an export processing zone (EPZ) and an economic zone to expand industrial activities and create employment in the northern region.

Such initiatives would help reduce unemployment and enable people to break out of the cycle of poverty, he said.

Emdad Hossain, president of the Rangpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the shortage of designated industrial land has forced businesses to set up factories in scattered locations, including agricultural land.

This is gradually reducing farmland and threatening food production, he said, stressing the need for a second BSCIC industrial estate.

Ehesanul Haque, deputy general manager of Rangpur BSCIC, said the authorities have sent proposals to the ministry for land for the new estate.

“Since the present government took office, efforts have been intensified to establish the second industrial estate. The ministry has assured us that it will take steps towards setting it up,” he said.