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Jhenidah jeweller holds out hope

AZIBOR Rahman, Jhenidah
A jewellery maker, based in Jhenidah, has widened its market reach by offering low-priced but quality ornaments.
Located in Moheshpur upazila in the district, Milon City Gold Ltd produces an array of imitation ornaments such as earrings, bangles, bracelets, necklaces and chains.
Earrings priced at only Tk 50 to Tk 60 a pair have become a hit among women. Customers can also electroplate their old imitation ornaments only forTk 20 toTk 30.
"We are planning to export the ornaments soon," Rashedunnabi Milon, managing director of Milon City Gold, told The Daily Star.
Milon s father Rahim Uddin started the jewellery business at Moheshpur Bazaar in 1974. After his father's death, Milon took the
reins of the company in 2003 when the prices of gold were high.
He experienced the first signs of profit in 2004 - a year for a turnaround. Milon said his daily sales turnover reaches as high as Tk 2 lakh.
The company has grown into an employer of about 650 workers in three factories that produce around 4,000 pairs of jewellery a day.
Apart from the factories, the company has two showrooms -- one in Moheshpur town and the other in Dhaka.
Dipali Rani, a customer from Kaliganj, said she had come here to buy the ornaments as their colour lasts long.
Abed /Xli, a wholesaler from Kushtia, said the items produced by Milon City Gold cost less than Indian peers.
"People from all walks of life use these imita-
tion ornaments," Ali said.
Indian ornaments dominated the local market before the arrival of Milon City Gold.
The pricey Indian ornaments are losing out to the local company. A pair of Indian earrings costs around Tk 200 to Tk 250 - much higher than the local ones.
But Milon is not free from worries. He said the local ornaments are made manually. On the other hand, Indian companies are mass-producing the ornaments by machine in a short spell of time.
Local companies like Milon City Gold are reluctant to set up ornament-making machinery as they suffer nagging power outages.
"Milon City Gold is our pride. We will do our best to ensure adequate electricity to help them set up automated machines," Shafiqul Azam Khan, a lawmaker from Jhenidah-3, told The Daily Star.