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A proposal has been submitted to the committee of the council of advisers on economic affairs, seeking approval for the handover of around 55 acres of land of closed Jalil Textile Mills in Chattogram to the Bangladesh Army for establishing an ordnance factory.

The Bangladesh Textile Mills Corporation, which, after coming into existence in 1972, acquired many mills, including Jalil Textile Mills Ltd, submitted the proposal to the council of advisers’ committee on July 15,  officials said on Monday.


The Bangladesh Army has been looking for land since 2024 to establish a plant under the Bangladesh Ordnance Factories at Bhatirai in the port city for its important geo-political location close to the Indian state of Tripura, said officials.

Bangladesh Ordnance Factories is currently located in Gazipur Cantonment.

Supplying arms, ammunition and equipment to the army, the ordnance factory produces a range of products, including firearms, artillery, fuses, detonators and explosives, often under licence from international manufacturers.

Officials said that the overall price of the land of the mill was calculated at Tk 111.44 crore against its liability of Tk 17.04 crore to the government, accumulated from utility bills, land bills and bank loans.      

They said that the BTMC had agreed to hand over the land at a token price of Tk 17.04 crore.

During the Bangladesh Investment Summit 2025 in April, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority executive chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun said that Bangladesh was planning to attract foreign direct investment in production of defence hardware.

Side by side, foreign investors will be allowed to export defence hardware, he added while responding to a question whether the BIDA had plans to open the door of the defence industry to foreign investment.

FDI in defence hardware is not permitted in Bangladesh.

He said that the government was talking with the army, the navy and the air force about the FDI in defence hardware manufacturing since the country’s existing ordnance factory was operated by the army.

Officials said that a meeting of the council of advisers’ committee on economic affairs was likely to be held on Today.