Following a successful trial run from October to December last year, Petrobangla took over the project from Namnam, the North Korean company that has developed the mine under a supplier's credit contract signed in 1994.

Maqbul-E-Elahi, director (mines and minerals) of the state-run oil, gas and mineral corporation, inaugurated the mining yesterday afternoon. Other officials of Petrobangla and the project were present on the occasion.

As per the original profile, Namnam was supposed to complete the installation work by June 1998 and hand it over to the mother organisation in November the same year.

But due to repeated delays in implementation, the project expenditure soared from Tk 650 crore to Tk 1,275 crore and cost the government an additional Tk 600 crore, said sources.

According to the mining company officials, at least 5,500 metric tons of granite will be produced from the mine every day.

Extraction from the first of the five blocks began on October 10 last year. The second block went into operation on October 17, third on October 27, fourth on November 20 and the final block on November 27 last year, said sources.

The mine was ready for handover after a successful 24-hour run involving all the five blocks on December 12, said Asadullah, a mining engineer of the project.

The project was supposed to go on a test run in June last year but failed due to technical glitches.

The target of granite extraction is around 1.65 million tons a year while the pit's life span has been estimated to be 46 years.

After the commissioning ceremony, Maqbul-E-Elahi, MGMCL Managing Director Abul Mansur Mohammad Azad, and other officials of Petrobangla and the project inspected the underground installation.