The famous Lachcha and Chikan Semai of Bogra have done a good business centering on this Eid. Traders associated with the business say that a total of Rs 300 crore worth of semai has been sold this time, as a result of which the semai business here has returned to good times after overcoming the corona.

Talking to the owners, artisans and workers of Bogra’s Semai factory, it is learned that Lachcha and Chikan Semai of this district are highly valued all over the country. There are thousands of small and big semai factories in the district. Although the business is good, there is some dissatisfaction among the buyers with the extra price. However, the factory owners say that the prices of all kinds of raw materials for making semai including flour and edible oil are higher in the market. Due to this, the price of semai has increased.

The people involved in the semai business claim that the lion’s share of the country’s semai is supplied by the factories in Bogra. Besides, it is also being exported abroad. In all, the traders said that this time the business was worth Tk 300 crore.
Bazlul Karim, a veteran educationist from Bogra, said Lachcha Semai was the norm at the Nakhoda Mosque in Kolkata in the 1930s. Before Eid, semai was brought by train from that Nakhoda mosque and sold in Bogra. Later, small and big factories for making lachcha semai were gradually established here. Thousands of tons of lachcha semai were supplied to the big cities of the country including the capital Dhaka, Sylhet, Chittagong and Narayanganj during the Eid festival.

People associated with the Bogra District Bakery Owners’ Association said that more than 150 Lachcha Semai factories have been set up in the district focusing on the needs of the country. Large factories produce an average of one and a half thousand kg of lachcha semai every day. In addition, 650 small-scale factories produce an average of 72 lakh kg of semai daily.

Raja Mia, the owner of the famous Raja Lachcha Semai factory in Bogra, said that Lachcha Semai also flourished in the forties. In the beginning it was sold from Calcutta and Hooghly. In the sixties, the fame of Chikan and Lachcha Semai of Bogra spread all over the country. After the eighties, Akbaria and Asia Suites became famous for their variety of flavors and quality lachcha semai.

Abdul Quader has been working as the main artisan of making lachcha semai in the factory of Asia Suites for two decades. He said that at present Asia Dalda is making lachcha and ghee fried lachcha semai. By doing this he gets a daily salary of 1,200 rupees.