A state advisory council yesterday remained undecided on whether to sell 16 textile and garment factories of Beximco Group, citing that further scrutiny of bank statements was required.

The sale is aimed at repaying nearly Tk 50,000 crore in bank loans owed by the group, more than half of which has become non-performing, according to Bangladesh Bank's data from last November.

There are discrepancies in loan and default amounts in financial statements provided by the group's state-appointed administrator and banks, said M Sakhawat Hussain, adviser to the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

So, the council has called a meeting with senior officials of five to six banks on January 27 to get a clear picture, Hussain, convener of the council, told The Daily Star over the phone.

At yesterday's meeting in Bangladesh Secretariat, the council discussed ways to sell the 16 factories inside Beximco Industrial Park in Gazipur, preferably to foreign entrepreneurs, he said.

However, the high amount of loans is keeping potential buyers at bay, he added.

Beximco Industrial Park had 42,000 workers and officials, and out of them, 27,000, who were employed at the 16 factories, have been laid off, he added.

The group's management body laid off the workers and officials after the ouster of the Sheikh Hasina-led government on August 5 last year, citing a low inflow of work orders from international clothing retailers and brands.

Its vice chairman, Salman F Rahman, who is now behind bars, was an influential adviser to deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

The state advisory council is determined to ensure that every worker of the 16 factories receives their service benefits, said Hussain.

The council is trying to identify ways to raise and disburse those funds in a transparent manner, and this may take a few more days, he said.

Since the workers are highly skilled, the government is trying to find them jobs, such as at factories connected with Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority and Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority, he said.

The workers of Beximco Industrial Park have announced plans to stage a demonstration in front of the park today, said Tariqul Islam, an administrative executive of Beximco Group.

They will demand that the 16 factories be kept operational, citing that these were profitable entities with many pending work orders from globally reputed clothing retailers and brands, he said.

Many globally reputed clothing retailers and brands are working with Beximco's textile and garment factories, which are most likely still profitable, said Amirul Haque Amin, president of the National Garment Workers Federation.

The government should keep the 16 operational and sell other non-profitable units of the group to pay off the bank loans, he suggested.

However, the government needs to appoint very efficient and smart administrators to run the textile and garment units, he added.