The authorities are processing a 'development project proposal' (DPP) involving Tk 190 crore to repair the urea factory, the Managing Director of ZFCL said.

Sources said a BMRE decision was made earlier involving Tk 400 crore, of which Tk 190 crore was supposed to be given by the government and the rest from other sources as loan.

Industries Advisor Geetiara Safiya Chowdhury at a press briefing at ZFCL during her visit on May 8 said that there was no alternative to BMRE to keep the old factory running.

After her visit, German company Ude GMBH German, which installed the factory, was called to give a 'preliminary advice' about BMRE.

A team from the company came in May, investigated different sections and suggested BMRE to keep it running.

The German company also asked ZFCL authorities to supply them relevant documents and papers soon to work out details.

But the ZFCL authorities are yet to supply documents and papers to the company.

The factory was repaired in 2001 at a cost of Tk 35 crore, in 2003 at a cost of Tk 120 crore and in 2006 at a cost of Tk 60 crore.

A source remarked that the factory could not be run for weeks at a stretch after repairing it several times at a cost of Tk 215 crore. So what is the guarantee that repair again with Tk 190 crore will keep it operational, he posed the question while talking to this correspondent on Saturday.

The factory falls silent off and on due to mechanical problems in different sections. It was kept shut for 82 days from July 10 last year till July 10 this year, incurring a production loss of 1,2,500 tonnes.

ZFCL was inaugurated in 1982 with a daily production of1600 tonnes of urea fertiliser. It is now producing 1250 to 1350 tonnes a day, incurring heavy losses. It is also failing to achieve the annual production target given by Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC).

An engineer seeking anonymity told this correspondent that repair again with Tk 190 crore will be of no use for the factory. BMRE is the only way to keep the old factory running for some years more, he said.

When contacted, ZFCL Managing Director Md. Osman Goni however observed that BMRE will take time. "We are supplying documents and relevant papers to the respective company gradually".

He said they are now busy with DPP which was approved by the government earlier.

"If the factory runs smoothly after DPP, why should we go for BMRE?", he said.

A factory cannot be termed old or dilapidated as because its faulty parts are changed regularly, the MD said.

Production cost of urea at ZFCL has also increased because of huge production loss due to frequent technical problems, the sources said.

Production cost of a tonne of urea at the factory is now Tk 6000 but the government sells it at Tk 4800.