Central Bank's 'Udyog' Programme Expands Nationwide, 18,444 Applications in First Phase

The Bangladesh Bank's 'Udyog' programme, taken up to build young people into entrepreneurs, create new employment and finance promising business initiatives, is now moving towards implementation across the country. In the first phase, the plan is to select 640 entrepreneurs from 64 upazilas in eight districts.

The central bank expects that, through nationwide expansion, 5,000 young people can be developed as entrepreneurs every year and given the necessary support. By its calculation, each successful small initiative will create employment for three to five people on average.

In the first phase, a total of 18,444 applications were submitted in 64 upazilas of the eight districts. That number itself signals the wide interest the programme has generated among young people.

According to the Bangladesh Bank's initial information, the highest number of applications came from Netrokona district — 5,351. Rangpur, in second place, received 2,745 applications.

In addition, 2,456 applications were submitted in Naogaon, 2,191 in Jhenaidah, 1,552 in Habiganj, 1,545 in Bhola, 1,343 in Manikganj and 1,261 in Feni.

Earlier, the Bangladesh Bank presented the details of the programme at a press conference on September 3 this year. There, the bank's spokesperson and executive director Arif Hossain Khan explained the programme's goals, financing and training elements.

The policy for the 'Udyog' programme was then issued on September 13. Applications were accepted in the first phase from September 16 to October 15 through branches of scheduled banks in all upazilas of the designated eight districts.

Now, in the second phase, applications will begin in the remaining 56 districts from November 1 and will run until November 30. Young people in districts left out of the first phase will therefore also get their chance.

By submitting applications within the set time, young people will be able to present proposals about their business plans and initiatives. Entrepreneurs will be selected after those proposals are assessed.

Selected entrepreneurs under the programme will receive financing of up to Tk 20 lakh. Of that, up to Tk 10 lakh can be a bank loan and up to another Tk 10 lakh can be a grant.

The interest or profit rate on the loan has been set at 4 to 7 percent at the customer level. Loans will also be available without collateral support, which is seen as a major relief for new entrepreneurs.

The programme's main goal is to identify promising young entrepreneurs at the grassroots level and to create financing opportunities for implementing their business initiatives.

The next steps are now to assess the first-phase applications, select the 640 entrepreneurs, and open applications in 56 districts in the second phase. Through that process, 'Udyog' will spread across the country in a real sense.