Pragoti Industries Limited (PIL) is a Bangladeshi car assembling and car parts manufacturing company headquartered in

Chittagong Chittagong ( /ˈtʃɪt əˌɡɒŋ/ ''chit-uh-gong''; ctg, চিটাং; bn, চিটাগং), officially Chattogram ( bn, চট্টগ্রাম), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh after Dhaka and third largest city in B ...

with a manufacturing plant in Barabkunda. Founded in 1966, it is the country's largest car assembling plant and it has assembled and marketed more than 50,000 vehicles such as cars, SUVs, buses, trucks, pickups, ambulances, tractors of multiple models by importing CKD (Complete Knocked Down) kits from overseas.

History

1960s

Present Pragoti Industries was established in 1966 as

Ghandhara Industries Ghandhara Industries Limited (GIL) ( ur, ), formerly known as National Motors Limited, is a Pakistani truck and bus manufacturer based in Karachi, Pakistan. It is the authorized assembler and manufacturer of Isuzu vehicles in Pakistan.

Habibullah Khan Khattak Lieutenant General Habibullah Khan Khattak also known as Muhammad Habibullah Khan (17 October 1913 – 1994) was a Pakistani Army officer born in Wana, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. He was the son of Khan Bahadur Kuli Khan Khattak, and was t ...

, a pasthun and a retired army

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

from

Pakistan Army The Pakistan Army (, ) is the Army, land service branch of the Pakistan Armed Forces. The roots of its modern existence trace back to the British Indian Army that ceased to exist following the partition of India, Partition of British India, wh ...

. He established Pragati (then Ghandhara Industries) with joint venture with

General Motors The General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest automaker in the United States and ...

. In late 60's Pragati rolled out

Vauxhall Viva The Vauxhall Viva is a small family car that was produced by Vauxhall in a succession of three versions between 1963 and 1979. These were designated as the HA, HB and HC series. The Viva was introduced a year after Vauxhall's fellow GM compa ...

cars and Bedford trucks. Habibullah also set up a factory at

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, but Pragati or Ghandhara Industries was more advanced and larger. Gen Habibullah's son, Maj Ali Quli Khan flew out of

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

during end of independence of

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

. Upon independence of Bangladesh, the government nationalised the company and renamed it Pragoti Industries.

1970s

Progoti Industries continued assembling Vauxhall Viva cars, a luxurious sedan car of that time and showed in Asia 1972 Trade fair in with caption " Bangladesh produce quality".

1980s

Things decline since 1980s and no more assembling were taking part only joining CKD for large vehicles.

1990s

2000

2010s

However, in 2010, Japanese car giant

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group historically descended from the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company which existed from 1870 ...

Corporation led by Asia Regional Manager Kazuhide Ogata made a formal proposal to Bangladesh government to manufacture

Mitsubishi Lancer The Mitsubishi Lancer is an automobile produced by the Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors since 1973. The Lancer has been marketed as the Colt Lancer, Dodge Colt, Plymouth Colt, Chrysler Valiant Lancer, Chrysler Lancer, Eagle Summit, Hin ...

Sedan and

Mitsubishi Pajero Sport The Mitsubishi Pajero Sport is a mid-size SUV produced by the Japanese manufacturer Mitsubishi Motors using the Mitsubishi Pajero, Pajero nameplate since 1996 that has spanned over three generations and based on the Mitsubishi Triton, Triton pi ...

in Pragoti, which already has been assembling Mitsubishi Pajero Sport since last few years. Along with Pajero Sport, it also assembles

Tata Motors Tata Motors Limited is an Indian multinational automotive manufacturing company, headquartered in Mumbai, India, which is part of the Tata Group. The company produces passenger cars, trucks, vans, coaches, buses. Formerly known as Tata En ...

buses and mini trucks, Ashok Leyland minibuses. Due to cheap labour cost, the company officials hoping to reduce the price of cars that will be built here are heavily comparing the same cars manufactured elsewhere. On 12 May 2016 Pragoti industries Ltd (PIL) & Mahindra and Mahindra Ltd (M&M) India, carried out factory roll-out of Mahindra Scorpio S10 SUV & Scorpio Double Cab pick-up CKD vehicles in Bangladesh was done in presence of Mr. Imtiaz Chaudhary, Chairman, BSEC, MD & Country Manager M&M Mr. Pankaj Singh . These vehicles will be marketed in Bangladesh through PIL.

References

{{Automotive industry in Bangladesh Car manufacturers of Bangladesh Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1966 Manufacturing companies based in Chittagong Government-owned companies of Bangladesh