IFAD Autos Limited has started productions with the aim of manufacturing 1000 AC, non-AC luxury buses yearly. The program was inaugurated at IFAD's own factory beside Dhaka-Aricha highway at Dhamrai in Dhaka on Thursday morning. Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun inaugurated the production program.
State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Md Enamur Rahman, Member of Parliament from Dhaka-20 Benzir Ahmed and Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission Chairman Munshi Shahabuddin Ahmed spoke at the inaugural function presided over by IFAD Group Chairman Iftekhar Ahmed Tipu.
Managing Director of IFAD Group Tanvir Ahmed, Managing Director of IFAD Autos Taskin Ahmed and Group Director Tasfin Ahmed including officials of various financial institutions, business leaders, bus-truck owners and leaders and workers of labor organizations were present at the event among others.
Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun in his speech as the chief guest said, one of the goals of the present government is to produce world class automobiles at affordable prices within the purchasing capacity of the people. The Ministry of Industry has already taken initiative to formulate a policy for the development of the automobile industry to achieve this goal. This policy is being formulated for the continuous and sustainable development of this industry.
He further said that at present the procedure of formulating policy for the development of automobile industry is in the final stage. The draft will be approved and finalized soon after consulting with the concerned stakeholders.
He called upon the government as well as the entrepreneurs of automobile industry to come forward to achieve this goal.
He expressed hope that with the collective effort of everyone, Bangladesh would be included in the list of automobile-producing countries beyond the boundaries of automobile-assembler countries. He said that the present government has declared 2020 as the year of light engineering. The government is providing all kinds of assistance to domestic and foreign investors with emphasis on setting up industrial factories in the country to turn it into a developed country in within 2041.
Iftekhar Ahmed Tipu, Chairman, IFAD Group, said that IFAD Autos has established a new horizon in the history through private initiative. Until now, automobiles were only assembled in this factory. Now the body of luxurious AC, non-AC bus will be manufactured here. He said that currently it takes a long time to import automobiles from abroad. After the launch of this factory, it will be possible to supply automobiles as soon as possible as per the demand of the buyers.
The chairman said that a revolutionary change has taken place in the field of heavy vehicles in Bangladesh in the last few years. With the increase in demand, huge amount of foreign currency is being spent on imported vehicles. Keeping this in mind, IFAD Autos Limited has set up this factory in order to save foreign currency and create industry-friendly conditions in the country. The factory has been set up at the cost of Tk 40 crore, where luxury AC and non-AC buses will be manufactured.
He said that since the factory will assemble various models of AC-non-AC buses, trucks, and covered vans, its production cost will be less than that of imported manufactured vehicles.
IFAD Autos Limited's factory was launched in 2017 with the aim of assembling 12,000 vehicles yearly. The factory is producing various car models of Indian brand Ashok Leyland.
