Gachihata Aquaculture Farms Ltd (GAFL) is a public limited Company. The GAFL was established by a young, retired army officer Major Mohd Akhtaruzzaman with his wife Salma Zaman in 1987 as a private limited Company and later converted to Public limited Company in 1994. The Company started its initial operation in 1987 over 6.3 acres of land at Gachihata, a remote village under Katiadi Upazila of Kishoreganj district. The Farm had no road, no electricity and no habitats at the beginning. It was a barren land in a small Haor of Kishoreganj but there was a road and railway station within 2 km . Later the farm of the Company was connected with metallic road and independent electricity connection by initiative and persuasion of the Company. Subsequently the Farm has expanded to 135 acres of land through purchase, by 1990.
There was no bank in the 10 km vicinity of the farm but now Two major banks – National Bank of Bangladesh (NBL ) and Krishi Bank of Bangladesh (BKB) have their branches in Gachihata Bazar.
Gachihata has now emerged as a new growth center with a big market, schools, college, hospitals, Police Investigation Centre and urban facilities. There are high rise towers of all mobile telephone operators in the country in the Gachihata area. Land prices in the Gachihata area have also increased by 200% from 1987. All these developments and urbanization in that remote Haor area became possible only due to strong leadership and success of the Company.
Company Status
GAFL is an integrated Agro Fisheries, was registered as a producing and manufacturing company under the Companies Act, 1913 on 21st November as a Private Limited Company. The Company was authorized to commence business in Bangladesh as per Certificate of Incorporation dated 21st November 1988 and the Company was subsequently converted to Public Limited Company on 18th July 1996 and listed in both Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchanges.
Location
GAFL is located at Gachihata, under the Katiadi police Station of Kishoreganj District in Bangladesh which is 130 km northeast of the Capital City Dhaka. It is connected by road and Rail with Dhaka and Port city Chittagong. It takes 3 hours by Car and 4 hours by train from Dhaka. It also takes 8 hours by car and 9 hours by Train and 12 hours by Truck to reach Chittagong Port.
Present Financial Position:
The present financial position of GAFL as per audited report is as follows:
| SL | Particular | Amount in USD |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Non-Current Assets | 53,726,799 |
| 2 | Current Assets | 222,557 |
| 3 | Total Assets: | 53,949,356 |
| 4 | Shareholders' Equity | 43,471,324 |
| 5 | Non-Current Liabilities | 2,247,695 |
| 6 | Current Liabilities & Provision | 8,230,337 |
| 7 | Total Shareholders' Equity and Liabilities | 53,949,356 |
| 8 | Net Asset Value per Share (NAVPS) including reserve | 21.00 |
| 9 | Share Capital (paid up) | 1,971,429 |
Investment Plan:
GAFL intends to boost up its Fish and vegetables production from its own Farm as well from its Contract Growers around the Farm location. Fish is the main source of protein and an integral part of the food of Bangladesh but there is an acute shortage of good, healthy, and hygienic fish. Fish is still being cultured under indigenous methods with low-scale production per ha compared to other competitive countries like Thailand, Vietnam, etc. The per capita consumption of vegetables is also less. GAFL will also produce its power from renewable energy sources such as Solar Power to create zero demand for traditional electricity and achieve zero carbon emissions. To reach its new goal, GAFL needs the new fund: