Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited (BMTF) is a commercial automobile assembly plant of the
Bangladesh Army
The Bangladesh Army is the land warfare branch and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to provide necessary forces and capabilities to deliver the Bangladeshi government's security and def ...
. It mainly engaged to build and modify automobiles specially for defence industry. It is located at Gazipur, about 40 km from Dhaka.
History
Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited was established in 1967. After the independence of Bangladesh, the factory started renewed operations on 11 February 1979 as a state owned company. In 1996, the factory was closed due to poor financial performance. On 27 July 2000, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over the closed factory to Bangladesh Army who restarted it under the Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory name.
On 28 February 2005, Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited signed an agreement with Pacific Motors Limited to assemble Nissan branded cars at the factory. They will be assisted by Nissan Diesel Motor Company Limited. The factory announced it had made a profit of 60.3 million taka in February 2005.
Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory started manufacturing shoes in August 2007 and was inaugurated by Moeen U Ahmed, Chief of Army Staff of the Bangladesh Army. The factory manufactures military boots, sneakers, and formal shoes.
The government of Bangladesh awarded a contract to Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited to supply Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags and special plates for
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) () is the road transport regulatory agency of Bangladesh.
History
Bangladesh Road Transport Authority was established under section 2A of the Motor Vehicle Ordinance of 1983 and the subsequent 1987 a ...
in 2009 and made it mandatory for all cars to have them. The six billion taka contract was given without a competitive tender process.
The government choose RFID tags rather than GPS because they perceived GPS to be more expensive. ''
The Daily Star'' described the RFID tags as "less effective, time-consuming and costly". The work was subcontracted to an American company which manufactured the plates in Poland.
In 2014, there were only 12 RFID scanners in Bangladesh and all of them were in Dhaka for the 2.1 million tags in usage.
In October 2011, Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory started manufacturing light bulbs and LED lights. Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited unveiled a car lift system that it had developed in collaboration with
Daiei
, based in Kobe, is one of the largest supermarket chains in Japan. In 1957, Isao Nakauchi founded the chain in Osaka near Sembayashi Station on the Keihan train line. Daiei is now under a restructuring process supported by Marubeni Corporation ...
, a Japanese firm. The development was announced by Major General
Anup Kumar Chakma, Master-General of the Ordnance. Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited manufactured Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) in collaboration with
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, commonly known by the acronym BUET, is a public technological research university in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Founded in 1876 as the Dacca Survey School, it is the oldest institution for the study ...
for
Bangladesh Election Commission
The Bangladesh Election Commission ( bn, বাংলাদেশ নির্বাচন কমিশন), abbreviated and publicly referred to as EC, is an independent constitutional body that operates the legal functions of election laws i ...
. The project was supervised by
Professor Jamilur Reza Choudhury.
Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited manufactured two vans for
Bangladesh Jail
Bangladesh Jail is a law enforcement agency responsible for the management and security of jails in Bangladesh and is located in Dhaka, Bangladesh
Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South A ...
. The vans were equipped with online surveillance system were handed over to the prison authorities on 30 January 2017. In October 2017, Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited and
Bangladesh Election Commission
The Bangladesh Election Commission ( bn, বাংলাদেশ নির্বাচন কমিশন), abbreviated and publicly referred to as EC, is an independent constitutional body that operates the legal functions of election laws i ...
decided to jointly implement a 16 billion taka project to create smart national ID cards.
In 2017, Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory supplied electronic voting machine for elections in Rangpur City Corporation. Bangladesh Election Commission was satisfied with the new design and order 2500 more units for the
2018 Bangladeshi general election
General elections were held in Bangladesh on 30 December 2018 to elect 300 directly-elected members of the Jatiya Sangsad. The result was a landslide victory for the Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina.
According to political scientist Ali Riaz, ...
. They would buy 150 thousand electronic voting machine from Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory for the election with a total cost of 40 billion taka.
In September 2018, Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory established a furniture manufacturing unit called BMTF Furniture. On 12 September 2018, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved a contract to buy shotguns and shells worth 1.47 billion taka for Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Party to Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory.
Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory started construction on three model villages through a 1.54 billion taka project in October 2019. The model villages are located in
Rangpur District
Rangpur ( bn, রংপুর) is a district in Northern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rangpur Division.
Geography
Under the Rangpur Division (one of eight divisions) composed of eight districts of northern Bangladesh, the District of Rangpur ...
,
Gopalganj District, and
Bogura District
Bogra District, officially known as Bogura District, is a district in the northern part of Bangladesh, in the Rajshahi Division. Bogra is an industrial city where many small and mid-sized companies are sited. Bogra was a part of the ancient Pun ...
. The project was retroactively approved by the
Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.
Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited also produces products for civilian use. It produced Germnil
hand sanitizer during the
COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh
The COVID-19 pandemic in Bangladesh is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Bangladesh in March 2020. The first ...
. It also donated to the Prime Minister's Relief and Welfare Fund to help those affected by the pandemic. In February 2020, Bangladesh Road Transport Authority cancelled a contract for 400 thousand license plates and choose to buy them from Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited. In April 2020, Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory announced that it will create ventilators of the COVID-19 pandemic with technical support from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...
.
Mohammad Abdur Razzaque,
Minister of Agriculture
An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
, urged Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited to produce more farm equipments as part of the government's effort to mechanize farming in Bangladesh.
On 17 September 2020, the Cabinet of Bangladesh approved a proposal by
Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board to buy 1.64 billion taka worth of electric poles from Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited. Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved a proposal by Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board to buy 323 million taka worth of electric poles from Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory on 27 January 2021.
See also
*
Bangladesh Ordnance Factories
, type = State-owned enterprise
, location =
, founded =
, location_city = Gazipur, Dhaka Division
, location_country = Bangladesh
, area_served = Bangladesh
, key_people = Major General Sayed Tareq Hussain (Commandant)
, products = Fi ...
*
Pragoti
Pragoti Industries Limited (PIL) is a Bangladeshi car assembling and car parts manufacturing company headquartered in Chittagong with a manufacturing plant in Barabkunda. Founded in 1966, it is the country's largest car assembling plant and it h ...
*
List of companies of Bangladesh
*
Defence industry of Bangladesh The defence industry of Bangladesh is a strategically important sector and a large employer in Bangladesh.The Government of Bangladesh is actively seeking to upgrade its military and security capabilities and has allocated increasing amounts to its ...
References
{{Reflist
External links
Official Website of Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory
Manufacturing companies of Bangladesh
Defence companies of Bangladesh
Manufacturing companies established in 1979
Organisations based in Gazipur