Maddhapara Granite posts record sales

Maddhapara Granite Mining Company earned Tk 256 crore by selling at least 11.12 lakh tonnes of rock in the ongoing fiscal year, the highest sale in three years.

The sales took place between August last year to May 31 this year.

Germania Trest Consortium (GTC), the company hired on contract by Maddhapara Granite Mining Company, produced at least 9.25 lakh tonnes of rock during the same period.

The hired company produced at least 10.67 lakh tonnes of rock in fiscal 2018-19, of which, 7.31 lakh tonnes were sold for Tk 163.41 crore the same year.

Although rock extraction got stalled for four months due to the Covid-19 restrictions in the country, the mine produced at least 8.23 lakh tonnes in the last fiscal year. Of this amount, 8.64 lakh tonnes were sold at Tk 207.81 crore.

So far, Maddhapara Granite Mining Company sold rock of Tk 627.22 crore since mid-2018. Private companies and government entities, including the roads, highways and bridge authority, railways and water development board, local government and engineering department, power development board and the Rooppur nuclear power plant project in Pabna are using the rock.

Bangladesh's annual demand is around 80 lakh tonnes, which is mostly met locally. Whenever there are shortages, it is met with imports from countries such as India and Bhutan.

Zabed Siddiqui, chief executive officer of the GTC, said over 20 lakh tonnes of rock could have been extracted during the six-year contract tenure if there had been no disruptions for two years for various reasons, including equipment failures.

"Such technical problems exist all over and are common," he added.

A former official of Petrobangla who served at a top position at Maddhapara Granite Mining Company said the performance of the GTC in the last two years was good.

Considering the performance, Maddhapara Granite Mining Company signed another one-year agreement with the GTC to keep production running.

Under the contract, the company extracted 1.1 million tonnes of rock and developed two stopes, which are a step like excavation underground.

The one-year contract of the GTC would come to an end on September 2 this year.

"We are likely to produce more rock against the given target during this one-year agreement," said Siddiqui, adding that if such a trend continued, the mine would turn profitable.