For commercial production and marketing of Sonali Bag (golden bags), a locally made shopping bag made of jute, before July next year, the Textile and Jute Ministry has amended the Development Project Proforma (DPP) as directed by the Planning Commission.
According to ministry officials, the amended DPP of Tk 100 crore project would be sent to the Planning Commission by next week for placing at the meeting of the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) to be chaired by Chief Adviser Dr MuhammadYunus.
Earlier, the Planning Commission sent the DPP back to the ministry with some observations to further amending it before placing it at the ECNEC meeting.
In 2016, scientist Dr Mubarak Ahmad Khan, a retired teacher of Jahangirnagar University, devised eco-friendly golden bag by extracting fine cellulose from jute fibre and mixing it with chemicals at a specific temperature.
In 2017, a project to manufacture golden bags was taken up within Latif Bawani Jute Mills Limited under the control of BJMC.
The production of golden bags is going on in a limited scale at the government's Latif Bawani Jute Mill on the banks of Shitalakshya River in Demra, Dhaka.
This eco-friendly bag looks like regular polythene but it is biodegradable.
Eight years after it was devised, production of jute golden bags, as an alternative to polythene bags is gaining momentum.
The government provided Tk 100 crore to increase production of the eco-friendly bags at a new factory, to be built at Demra's Latif Bawani Jute Mills for daily production of one million golden bags.
When contacted, Textile and Jute Secretary Md Abdur Rauf told this correspondent on last Thursday that the Tk 100 crore project was taken with 100 per cent government funding for procurement of machineries and other necessary equipments. It was sent to the Planning Commission for placing in the ECNEC.
But, the Planning Commission sent it back with some observations. The ministry has already completed its works. Hope, the DPP would be resent to the Planning Commission again by next week. Once, the ECNEC approved the proposal, the implementing authority - Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) - will start procurement of the machinery, he added.
Abdur Rauf said that the ministry and BJMC officials have already contacted with machine production companies in Japan, Germany and China.
They have agreed to produce and supply the machines similar to the model developed by Dr Mubarak Ahmad Khan.
In response to a query, the secretary said that price of each machine has not been finalised.
After getting approval of the ECNEC, the machines would be procured following the due procedures of the country.
The authorities will accept the proposal which would be profitable as well as ensuring the standard.
"It may take some time to complete the procedures and start production by setting a new factory. Hope, the commercial production would start before July next year," he said, adding, "If the production of golden bags is found profitable, production of the bags would be started by entrepreneurs."
Mubarak Ahmed, the artisan scientist of Sonali Bag, recently told media that money will be available under the 'pre-commercialization of Sonali Bag' project in July. After this, the work of setting up the new factory will begin.
Dr Mubarak Ahmad Khan said, "It will take some time to supply golden bags in the global market. Golden Bag is recognised by about 158 countries. It is the government's responsibility to market it."
