Anwar Ali, Rajshahi

Having already invested Tk 100 crore to establish an industrial estate in Rajshahi’s Godagari upazila in 2017, Pran is planning expansions there, subject to government assistance, including the supply of natural gas.

The zoned area on 34 acres of land in Godagari’s Amanatpur village currently houses equipment to pulp agricultural produce before those are sent off to its other plants for further processing and packaging.

Factory activity is currently seasonal, based on the availability of mango, tomato, guava and olive.

The list is set to get bigger very soon as the country’s biggest food processor aims to work with watermelon, pineapple, cucumber and aloe vera.

“We have prepared a new plant for producing frozen food and noodles to export those from Rajshahi,” said Chowdhury Kamruzzaman, director of marketing of Pran-RFL Group, yesterday.

“We have already applied for gas supply. When we get it and other assistance from various government agencies, we will go into production,” he said while exchanging views with journalists at the estate, Barind Industrial Park.

Using alternative fuels such as furnace oil and diesel will raise costs fivefold, he said.

The estate already employs 1,500 people and the new plans promise jobs for at least another 5,000 people, about 95 per cent of whom is being planned to be sourced from the locality.

If an enabling environment prevails, many others will come over to set up their operations in this region, said Kamruzzaman.

Pran chose Godagari to source the region’s quality agricultural products directly from farmers. This not only lowers transportation costs for growers but takes out the need for middlemen, he said.

Prior to 2018, farmers sometimes had no option but to leave tomatoes out to rot in the field because the prices had gotten too low and there was a lack of buyers, said the park’s deputy general manager, Sayed Md Sarowar Hossain.

The situation has now dramatically changed with tomato cultivation increasing day by day because farmers are getting fair prices, he said.

“We prioritise the collection of quality raw materials so that customers can get standard products,” he added.

Pran is said to create pulp using aseptic technology. Aseptic means free from contamination caused by harmful bacteria, viruses, or other microorganisms.

The process involves filling the cooled food products into airtight sterile containers under aseptic conditions enabling safe storage at room temperatures

What remains after the pulping is used to generate compost fertiliser for farmers.

“We produce organic fertilizer and energy from the wastages, so there is no environmental concern. Liquid waste is treated in a modern effluent treatment plant,” he said.

The estate is one of the 23 Pran has in 16 locations across the country, employing more than 1 lakh people.

The conglomerate does not want to stop at exporting to 141 countries. “We will soon set up industries outside the country as well,” said Kamruzzaman.