Govt plans 3 new fertilizer factories to boost national production

Under the initiative led by the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC), the proposed plants aim to produce 1,700 metric tonnes of urea daily in Bhola, 400,000 metric tonnes of TSP annually in Chittagong, and 24,000 metric tonnes of Urea Formaldehyde-85 (UF-85) annually in Polash, Narsingdi. BCIC targets increasing national fertilizer output to 2.7 million metric tonnes within the next three to five years.

Ministry of Industries officials noted that a major portion of domestic demand is currently met through imports due to capacity limitations and constraints at existing facilities. During the 2025-26 fiscal year, domestic production fulfilled only 42.34 per cent of urea demand, 9.10 per cent of TSP demand, and 5.53 per cent of DAP demand. Increasing local production is expected to reduce import dependency and ease government subsidy burdens.

The proposed urea plant in Bhola will require 45 to 50 million cubic feet of gas daily, making uninterrupted gas supply critical to the project. Meanwhile, the new TSP facility will be built on unused land at the TSPCL complex in North Patenga, Chittagong, to overcome raw material shortages and mechanical issues facing the current complex. The UF-85 plant will utilize spare land at the Ghorashal-Polash Fertilizer PLC site in Polash.

BCIC Chairman Md Babul Miah stated that the projects will enhance supply security, make effective use of idle industrial land, and generate employment across engineering, technical, and service sectors in the project areas once implementation details are finalized.

-SA