Maddhapara Granite Mining Company Limited

Maddhapara Granite Mining Company Limited is a Bangladesh government owned granite mining company owned by Petrobangla.[1]

History

The Geological Survey of Bangladesh discovered granite deposits in Dinajpur District in 1974.[2] SNC-Lavalin carried out a feasibility study on the site, and Nippon Koei Co., Ltd. published a detailed study.[2] The government of Bangladesh signed an agreement with the government of North Korea.[2] Petrobangla gave a turnkey contract to M/S Korea South South Corporation Corporation of North Korea to develop the Maddhapara Granite Rock Mine Project site.[2] The project became Maddhapara Granite Mining Company Limited on 4 August 1998.[2] On 25 May 2007, the North Korean company handed over the project to Maddhapara Granite Mining Company Limited which started operating the mine from 27 May 2007.[2]

By July 2010, the Maddhapara Granite Mining Company Limited had 930 million taka with 240 million lost in 2009 alone.[3]

In September 2015, the company stopped mining due to a shortage of equipment leaving one thousand workers without work.[4]

Maddhapara Granite Mining Company Limited signed an agreement with Germania-Trest Consortium to develop the site further on 14 February 2014.[2][5] The contractor performance was unsatisfactory and the companies had to go to an international tribunal to settle their disputes.[5] Germania-Trest Consortium is a joint venture between Germania Corporation Limited, a Bangladeshi company, and JSC TrestShakhtosPetsstroy, a Belarusian company.[5] The tenure of the company was extended by one year in February 2020.[5] The tender to appoint a new contractor was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh.[6] The mine was closed for six months due to the pandemic in 2020.[7] Delays over a new contract led to a significant slowdown in production in August 2021 leading to more than one thousand trucks waiting to take rocks from the mine.[8]

The company made a profit for the first time since it was founded from the 2018-2019 fiscal year at 70 million taka.[9][10] The rock production had exceeded all expectations in 2018.[11] In 2019, Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited managing director MD Fazlur Rahman was made the managing director of Maddhapara Granite Mining Company Limited.[12]

The company made a profit of 220 million taka the 2019-2020 fiscal year.[9]

In March 2022, Maddhapara Granite Mining Company Limited stopped mining activities due to a shortage of ammonium nitrate explosives.[13] Production resumed on 28 March and stopped again on 1 May due to the lack of explosives.[14] The company is responsible for supplying mega projects of the government.[13] The dealers of the company were charging a high price for the rocks than the rate set by the company.[1]

Board of directors

• Nazmul Ahsan[15]
• Abul Khayer Md. Aminur Rahman[15]
• Md Hafizur Rahman Chowdhury[15]
• Ali Iqbal Md. Nurullah[15]
• Abdul Baqee Khan Majlis[15]
• H. M. Khalid Iftekher[15]
• Abu Daud Mohammad Fariduzzaman[15]