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Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation

autonomous · verified (verified 2026-05-17)

Profile

Head
Ashraf Uddin Ahmed Khan
Role
Chairman
Annual budget
—
Staff
2029
Established
1957
Legal basis
The East Pakistan Small and Cottage Industries Corporation Act, 1957 (EP Act XVII of 1957), enacted on 14 March 1957; renamed Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation following independence; the governing statute is The Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation Act, 1957, as retained and amended (including Amendment Act 1992); published at bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd Act No. 274

BSCIC is executing an estate-expansion and competitiveness agenda under Chairman Ashraf Uddin Ahmed Khan (in post since October 2024): 83 industrial estates and parks are operational with 6,223 active units; the Thakurgaon Food Processing Industrial City (50 acres, 251 plots, 25,000 jobs target) is completing construction as of May 2026; SME Foundation's April 2026 Tk 440 crore credit wholesaling round -- the largest single-round deployment in recent years -- directly serves BSCIC-ecosystem entrepreneurs at 8-9% interest through 15 banks and NBFIs; and the Ministry of Industries has signalled to parliament that additional estates will be created from unused land via district administration as a post-LDC graduation employment strategy.

Recent activity

Provenance & notes

BSCIC was established under EP Act XVII of 1957 (enacted 14 March 1957) following initiatives by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as then-Minister for Labour, Commerce and Industry; renamed to Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation post-independence; governing statute confirmed at bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd Act No. 274. Banglapedia cites total approved posts of 2029 -- used as staff_count; Wikipedia broadly corroborates the organisation structure (4 regional offices, 64 industries service centres, 74 industrial estates as of that article's last update). The April 2026 parliamentary statement cited 83 industrial estates with 6,223 active units -- used as the current figure in recent_activity, sourced from BSS News official government wire. Current Chairman Ashraf Uddin Ahmed Khan, 13th BCS Administration Cadre (joined service 25 April 1994, Mathematics MSc Dhaka University), confirmed joining as chairman 1 October 2024 by The Financial Express and BSCIC Chittagong Regional Office officer list; previously Rural Development and Cooperatives Division Additional Secretary. annual_budget_bdt is null: no disaggregated BSCIC budget line is publicly available in the Ministry of Finance FY2025-26 budget documents; BSCIC's budget is embedded in the Ministry of Industries envelope. The SME Foundation is a separate statutory body under the Ministry of Industries (not BSCIC directly), but its April 2026 Tk 440 crore credit wholesaling round explicitly targets BSCIC-ecosystem CMSMEs and was announced at the same event where the Industries Minister spoke on BSCIC competitiveness ahead of LDC graduation; included in recent_activity as directly relevant to BSCIC's SME financing mandate. The 'Tk 400 crore' figure in the task brief corresponds to the Tk 295 crore revolving-fund tranche of the 9 April 2026 SME Foundation credit wholesaling signing; the verified total announced was Tk 440 crore (Tk 295 crore + Tk 145 crore JICA-BIFFL). The sub-district drive events (Rajshahi, Narsingdi Raipura, Bagerhat) are individually confirmed by BSS News district bureau reports; they reflect a standing programme not a single named circular.

Sources