Nasir Group eyes Tk 300cr in sales from new plant

Nasir Glassware and Tube Industries is expected to earn nearly Tk 300 crore in annual sales from its new plant to be pressed into operation at the end of this year, a top official said yesterday.
The Tk 600 crore plant is being set up on a 125-bigha of land at Sohagpur under Mirzapur upazila of Tangail district. Some 85 percent of construction is complete.
“We expect Tk 15 crore in monthly sales from glassware and Tk 10 crore from tube lights,” Nasiruddin Biswas, managing director of Nasir Group, told The Daily Star, quoting a feasibility study on the new plant.
Around Tk 100 crore worth of letter of credits have been opened for import of machinery and equipment for the company, Biswas said. The company has invested another Tk 200 crore for construction and land acquisition.
Nasir Group, which started its business in a humble way with the making of biri (traditional handmade low-cost cigarette), now boasts glass, melamine, printing and packaging and footwear units.
The group's annual turnover crosses Tk 2,000 crore. It pays a monthly average of Tk 13 crore in value added tax to the national exchequer, according to available statistics.
Nasir Glassware and Tube Industries will be the first of its kind in the country and will compete against a tide of imported goods now dominating the glass tableware, fluorescent and energy-saving bulb market here.
Glassware products that will be manufactured at the plant include tableware, flower vase, perfume bottle, bowl and candle stand. All of the items are imported from different countries such as China, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The market size of fluorescent and energy-saving bulbs is also rising on the rise of the user's consciousness about an efficient use of electricity. The energy-saving bulb market will boom once the government makes its use mandatory, officials said.
Citibank NA has recently arranged Tk 140 crore loans for Nasir Glassware and Tube Industries at a 12 percent interest rate.
“Both glassware and energy-saving bulbs will be import-substitution industries. They will also be able to export in the near future,” said Mamun Rashid, country officer of Citibank NA in Bangladesh.
sajjad@thedailystar.net