Success and failure stories

Two lakh a year on a bigha, and even one lakh of leaf is hard to sell

Building a one-bigha boroj costs about 1 lakh taka and another lakh a year to keep, but small leaf sells at 10-25 taka a bira and growers say 35 is where the cost is covered.

Capital

৳1 lakh

An official 18.50 a kilo, 12-15 from the factory, and a garden torn out after 20 lakh of losses

A 7-bigha tea garden in Boda, Panchagarh, paid for three or four years and then lost about 20 lakh taka: the fixed green-leaf price is 18.50 a kg, but factories paid 12-15 and cut a further 20-30 percent on top.

29,000 taka a bigha to grow, and no offer above 2,000 a maund

A bigha of jute in Rajbari costs about 29,000 taka to grow and yields 8-10 maund, while even the best fibre fetches 2,400 taka a maund: roughly 5,000 taka of loss per bigha.

Two storms in one day and night, and the maize is flat on the ground

A squall with hail on Saturday morning and a second in the middle of that night laid the maize flat in Thakurgaon; the farmer says the season's capital went with it.

Five lakh chargers a month and 80 percent of the market, undone by an undated guarantee card

Started in 1996, this charger and battery business was selling about five lakh chargers a month by 2010 — roughly 2.5 crore taka of sales and about 80 percent of the national market. Its six-month replacement card carried no date, so old products kept coming back for free replacement indefinitely.

Started in 1996

Four days without trucks, and 20,000 maunds of mango rotted in the arots

Baro Bazar in Khulna normally moves 9,000-10,000 maunds of mango a day; a four-day curfew took sales to zero and about 20,000 maunds rotted in the arots. One wholesaler was left with 1,500 maunds and another with 700.

Gold advanced to a workshop never came back, and both 6-crore cheques bounced

Thirteen traders in Hazari Goli handed gold and cash advances to one casting workshop between 9 and 12 October, an exposure they put at about 60 crore taka in total. Both of the 6-crore-taka security cheques he had given them bounced.

Chira at 40-42 taka a kilo, muri next door at 45-50, and the grocers stopped asking

At the Fatulla wholesale market chira moves at 40-42 taka a kg while muri fetches 45-50 wholesale and 50-70 retail. A maund of rice yields 28-30 kg of muri, and with demand shifting the chira mills are going quiet.

A 20 kg basket of lachcha from 1,300 taka to 2,400, and orders halved

Inputs rose about 40 percent, so a 20 kg basket of loose lachcha had to go from 1,300 taka to 2,400 — and wholesalers cut their orders. Annual output of about 20,000 tonnes was heading for 12,000 or less, with about 40 of roughly 200 factories already shut.

Inputs up 30 percent in six months, and the price of a loaf unchanged

Sugar at 110 taka a kg, flour at 62, palm oil at 135 a litre and ghee at 154 — inputs rose at least 30 percent in six months while the price of bread and biscuits could not move. All 95 of the district's bakery factories were running at a loss, one owner putting his own at 30 lakh taka over two years.

A hundred crore lost in 15 election days, with hotel bookings under 10 per cent

Cox's Bazar emptied of tourists in February 2026 around the national election: most hotels fell below 10 per cent occupancy and the 15-day loss was put at a hundred crore taka.

From 18-22 trips a month to 7-8, and a lakh of profit down to 20,000-25,000

Seven trucks that used to run 18-22 trips a month for more than a lakh of profit were down to 7-8 trips leaving 20,000-25,000 taka - not even enough to cover the instalments.