The government has formed an inter-ministerial committee to lease out to private investors state-run textile mills, which are mostly out of operation, in order for production to resume, said a notification of the textiles and jute ministry.

Headed by the additional secretary (textile) to the ministry, the 10-member committee will advise the government and work to finalise conditions regarding the lease process and applications, said the notification issued last week.

"We want to begin with three mills," said Textiles and Jute Secretary Md Abdur Rauf. The mills are located in Sylhet, Kurigram and Chattogram.

There are 25 textile mills under Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMC), out of which, nine are closed and one is being run on a rental basis.

The BTMC is also in the process of establishing a textile village at Chittaranjan Cotton Mills.

Rauf said the ministry took the lease decision in line with what was done regarding jute mills that had remained closed under Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC).

Up until now, the BJMC has leased out 10 mills out of 19 and is in the process of leasing out the rest.

On the second week of this month, the state corporation, which closed its mills in July 2020, sought expressions of interest from private investors for leasing four mills.