Three years after it was declared ready for entrepreneurs, the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation Industrial Estate–2 in Rajshahi’s Paba upazila is struggling to attract investment due to the high price of plots and the absence of utility services.
Spread over 50 acres of land and having 286 industrial plots along the Rajshahi-Dhaka highway, the BSCIC-2, a Tk 1.5 billion project, was launched in July 2022 with the aim of generating 10,000 new jobs and boosting small and medium enterprise growth in the region.
But as of mid-2025, only 49 plots have been allotted, with the rest lying vacant, while the industrial operations on only three of the allotted plots have begun partially.
Businesses blamed exorbitant land prices, incomplete infrastructure, utility shortfalls, and weak financial support for new entrepreneurs for the situation.
Among the early applicants, Usha Silk Printing and Weaving Factory, a reputed Rajshahi-based textile company, withdrew its application for a plot at the BSCIC-2 in 2024.
‘We were enthusiastic initially, but the condition of the estate didn’t match what was promised,’ a company executive told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ·.
Md Nasim, manager of Triple S Electronics, told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that they were promised to receive their plots nearly a year ago, but that still had not happened.
‘Progress has been extremely slow. The project area only recently has got electricity connections, while sewerage and gas lines are yet to be installed. Moreover, given the current situation in the country, many are now hesitant to invest,’ he said.
The BSCIC-2 has set the price of plot at Tk 1,148.27 a square foot — the highest among all industrial estates in Bangladesh, except Munshiganj and Keraniganj.
‘The price is two to three times higher than the market rates,’ Masudur Rahman Rinku, president of the Rajshahi Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Masudur said that the estate also lacked a common effluent treatment plant — a vital facility for managing industrial wastewater.
‘Over 80 per cent of the allotted plots have gone to pesticide and chemical-processing industries. Without an ETP, disposing of hazardous wastewater into open drains or surrounding lands by the factories will pose a serious threat to nearby communities and ecosystems,’ he added.
Masudur said that the absence of sound waste management was another issue.
Local SMEs also alleged that banks were unwilling to finance ventures in the project due to the high initial capital required and uncertainties surrounding the infrastructure.
‘Without affordable loans, small entrepreneurs simply cannot afford these plots,’ said Rosettee Najneen, president of the Rajshahi Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The industrial park, which is located seven kilometres away from Rajshahi city, also suffers from logistics and environmental vulnerabilities as there is no direct rail or river link, which will increase the cost of raw material transport.
Acknowledging the high land prices, Rajshahi BSCIC deputy general manager Rofikul Islam said that the project site was on low-lying land, so the cost had risen significantly due to heavy expense on sand filling.
‘Due to high investment costs, limited market demand for produced goods, high production expenses, and costly transport, local small and medium entrepreneurs are unable to invest here. So, we are now trying to bring big industries from the capital Dhaka and the port cities to make the industrial estate effective,’ he said.
Ahmed Shafi Uddin, president of the Rajshahi district unit of Shushashoner Jonno Nagorik, an organisation working for good governance, said that many factories in the Rajshahi BSCIC-1 had already shut down, while some had even been turned into shopping malls where imported foreign goods were now being sold.
‘Launching BSCIC-2 without resolving the problems of BSCIC-1 was a not a well-thought-out decision,’ he said, adding that what Rajshahi really needed was an export processing zone, which could have created jobs for many educated unemployed youths.
