Maddhapara Hardrock Mining Project, the only rock quarry in Bangladesh, has been reeling with heavy losses for years.
The project incurred a net loss of Tk 4.72 billion and its accumulated loss stood at Tk 5.9 billion at the end of the 2016-17 fiscal year.
The State Minister of Power, Energy & Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid instructed project authorities to turn the unit into a profit-earning venture.
An official of the project said, delays in approving equipment procuring and design changes were among major reasons for the losses incurred.
Every year the project experienced operational losses of more than half of a billion taka, mineral resources division sources said.
Petrobangla in 2013 appointed Belarusian state owned company Germania-Trust Consortium (GTC) to extract 9.2 million tonnes of stone by 2019 but so far it could mine 1.6 million stones.
The mine started making losses as the stone lifting operation was closed down for two years from 2015 to 2017.
The quarry was discovered in 1974 in Dinajpur’s Parbotipur, a northern district of the country.
The commercial stone lifting from the mine started in 2007.