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AyRojgar

Welding and grill workshop

Cutting and welding mild steel into grills, railings, steel doors and gates. Plain MS grill is about Tk 160-220 per square foot, while MS rod has risen 10-17 percent in a year.

  • Last reviewed: 19 September 2026
  • Version 1
Welding and grill workshop

Welding and grill workshop

Starting capital
৳1,20,000 – ৳6,00,000
Editorial estimate
Manpower
2 – 8 people
First sale
21 – 60 days
Editorial estimate
Break-even
4 – 8 months
Editorial estimate
Kind of work
Workshop · Medium difficulty

About the business

A workshop that cuts, welds and paints mild steel into window grills, stair and balcony railings, steel doors and house gates. A small shed, one welding set, a grinder and two hands is enough to start. Pricing is by the square foot. In April 2026 in Uttara and Mirpur, plain MS grill was running at Tk 160-220 per square foot, medium designer grill Tk 240-350, thai-style laser-cut grill Tk 350-500 and SS 304 grill Tk 450-700, with Gulshan and Banani a little higher. A Dhaka firm lists finished MS window grills at Tk 5,000-10,000 each and large MS boundary gates at Tk 120,000-190,000. The real danger in this trade sits elsewhere. The price of the job is agreed first and the rod is bought afterwards. On TCB's sheet of 15 September 2026, 60-grade MS rod was Tk 92,500-94,500 per metric tonne and 40-grade Tk 89,000-91,000; over twelve months 60-grade rose 10.3 percent and 40-grade 16.9 percent. A fabricator who quotes a fixed price in February and buys steel in June has had his profit decided by the rod market, not by how well he welds.

Unit economics

ItemRangeEvidenceSuggest a correction
Monthly working capital৳1,00,000 – ৳5,00,000Editorial estimate
Selling price৳160 – ৳700 / unitMarket quote
Variable cost৳115 – ৳480 / unitEditorial estimate
Gross margin28% – 31%Editorial estimate
Time to first revenue21 – 60 daysEditorial estimate
Break-even time4 – 8 monthsEditorial estimate
Cash cycle15 – 60 daysEditorial estimate
Waste / loss4% – 8%Editorial estimate
Daily capacity30 – 150Editorial estimate

What you need to start

  • Inverter MMA welder 130-225 A (Tk 8,010-26,091), TIG/MMA set 160 A (Tk 25,200-26,991), electrode holders (Tk 585-855), grinder, cutting wheels, vice, hammers, drill, tape, mask and gloves. Prices from SafestallBD, 16 September 2026.Equipment
  • MS rod 60-grade (Tk 92,500-94,500 per metric tonne) and 40-grade (Tk 89,000-91,000), MS square bar and pipe, 16-gauge sheet, welding electrodes, primer and paint.Starting stock
  • Fire licence from Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD). Mandatory for factory establishments, valid one year, renewed annually. No published fee table exists: after inspection the amount is set in a demand note based on property valuation and business type, and paid by bank chalan.Licence
  • Trade licence from the city corporation or municipality: form Tk 10, licence book Tk 50, standard tax Tk 30, non-judicial stamp Tk 150-300, licence fee Tk 100-60,000 by trade type, plus VAT and signboard fee. Issued in 3-5 working days, renewed yearly.Licence
  • Welding, measuring, and estimating how much steel a design will eat before quoting. The last one matters most: a wrong steel estimate on a fixed-price job guarantees a loss.Skill
  • A regular rod and sheet supplier who will put a rate in writing, an electrode and paint shop, and access to galvanising or powder coating when a job needs it.Supplier
  • A roadside tin or brick shed that long rod can be carried into and where sparks will not endanger the next building, with space to store steel and get finished gates out.Workspace

How the work is done

  1. 1Take a roadside shed where new houses are going up. You need room to bring long rod in, unload, and get finished grills and gates out.
  2. 2Take the trade licence from the city corporation or municipality, making sure the manufacturing nature of the trade is stated correctly on it.
  3. 3Check with Fire Service and Civil Defence whether a fire licence applies. It is mandatory for factory establishments, renewed annually, and the fee is set in a demand note after inspection.
  4. 4Get a three-phase electricity connection. A welding set and grinder running together will not hold on an ordinary line, and when the power goes the work stops.
  5. 5Buy the machines: an inverter MMA welder of 130-225 amps at Tk 8,000-26,000, a TIG/MMA set at Tk 25,000-27,000, plus a grinder, cutting wheels, vice, hammers and measuring tools.
  6. 6Fix a rod supplier and write down the date of every rate. MS rod 60-grade is Tk 92,500-94,500 per metric tonne and 40-grade Tk 89,000-91,000.
  7. 7When you quote, state how many days the quote holds and whether it changes if rod prices rise. Without that one line, the rod market decides your profit.
  8. 8Take the measurement yourself and get it signed. A grill made small has to be remade; one made large means breaking the wall.
  9. 9Cut, weld, grind, prime and paint, then fit on site. Weak grinding or thin paint brings rust within a year, and the name goes with it.
  10. 10Stay connected to contractors, developers and nearby hardware shops, since repeat work comes from there, but keep the billing terms in writing.
  11. 11Do not turn down repairs to old grills and gates or small welding jobs. They use little material, pay cash the same day, and cover the day's running cost.

Seasons

  1. JanNormal
  2. FebNormal
  3. MarNormal
  4. AprNormal
  5. MayNormal
  6. JunNormal
  7. JulLow
  8. AugLow
  9. SepNormal
  10. OctNormal
  11. NovHigh
  12. DecHigh
HighNormalLow

Where it works well

  • Strong fitBogura · The foundry and light engineering centre of the north, where agricultural machinery work means trained fabricators are easy to find.
  • Strong fitChattogram · New buildings, warehouses and industrial work in the port city, with the large steel mills in the same region.
  • Strong fitDhaka · The most new flats, shops and warehouses, with machinery and spares at hand in the Dholaikhal and Jinjira light engineering cluster.
  • Strong fitGazipur · Constant gate and grill work for factories, worker housing and warehouses, with large construction contractors based here.
  • Strong fitNarayanganj · Dense settlement and factory areas, with repair work alongside new flats and shops.
  • PossibleCumilla · New houses and shops along the highway, plus gate and grill demand from families with members abroad.
  • PossibleKhulna · New buildings and warehouses in the city, and salt air rusts steel, so repainting and repair work keeps coming.
  • PossibleMymensingh · New buildings and institutional work in the divisional city, though there are fewer large contractors.
  • PossibleRangpur · New house work in the city and upazila towns; wages are lower so costs are lower, but so is the rate.
  • PossibleSylhet · Houses built with money from abroad ask for designed gates and stainless railings, so the rate per square foot is higher.

Risks and cautions

  • HighDependency: On a fixed-price job the rod market decides your profit, not you. On TCB's 15-09-2026 sheet, 60-grade MS rod is Tk 92,500-94,500 per metric tonne and 40-grade Tk 89,000-91,000, up 10.3 and 16.9 percent in twelve months. A price promised on last year's rate would now cost roughly Tk 8,700 to Tk 13,200 more per tonne. Big gates and long railings run over months while the price was fixed on day one, and the loss enters through that gap.
  • HighWorking capital: Material first, money later. Rod, sheet and paint go in before the job starts, the fitters are paid weekly, and the customer pays after the grill is fitted. One tonne of rod alone is Tk 89,000-94,500, so with two jobs' money stuck the third one cannot be taken.
  • MediumLate payment: Contractor and developer work is large and regular, but payment waits for the bill to clear. If the last instalment is held until the building is handed over, that money sits for months while the rod price moves up.
  • MediumCompliance: A fire licence is mandatory for a factory and must be renewed yearly, but there is no published fee table - the amount appears in a demand note after inspection. You cannot budget for what you cannot know in advance, and without the paper the larger contractors will not give you work.
  • MediumDemand: The work depends entirely on construction. When casting and finishing slow down in the monsoon, grill and railing work slows with it, while rent, the electricity bill and the fitters' wages carry on.

Sources

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