Agreement with China on Padma bridge rail link

Bangladesh has signed a $ 2.67 billion loan agreement with Exim Bank of China to implement the much-awaited Padma rail link project.

Additional Secretary of Economic Relations Division on behalf of Bangladesh in Beijing on Friday morning. Zahidul Haque and China Exim Bank Vice President Sun Ping signed the agreement, the Ministry of Railways said in a press release.

Railway Council's contractual organization, CERC official and Economic Council of Bangladesh High Commission in China. Jahangir was present at the time.

A six-member delegation led by Jahidul Huq is now in China on the occasion of signing the contract.

It is one of the 27 agreements signed during the Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Dhaka in 2016, with a funding of 172 kilometers rail link project from Narail to Jessore, breaking through Dhaka on Padma bridge.

The total cost of the project is estimated to be around Tk 35 billion. Of this, 10 thousand crores of taka is provided from the state treasury. The rest of the money was to be given to China government's loan of 25 thousand crores (313 crores 87 million dollars).

But in the middle of March, a senior official of Economic Relations Division (ERD) told that the amount of Chinese funding is going down in the project.

He told the media that for this project, China will pay 15 percent less than its promised funding.

Finally, Exim Bank of China has signed a $ 2.67 billion debt agreement.

This number is 12.66 percent less than the previous promised money.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has announced the launch of the railway movement since the launch of Padma road bridge. In view of that announcement, the Ministry of Railways sent a letter to the Prime Minister's Office on 23 November 2016.

It is said that in order to inaugurate the railway bridge in Padma in 2019, the work will start from January 2017.

It was further told that due to the start of the monsoon season from May-June, the work will start from January. If not, it will not be possible to open Padma road and railway bridge together.

The government has been working to complete the mission of finishing Padma Bridge by 2018. Road transport and labor minister Obaidul Quader expressed hope of crossing the Padma bridge during this period, this year.

But the work of the road bridge ahead of the third span in the Padma bridge but the project behind the rail project has been delayed.

According to the latest amendment, the expansion of the Padma Bridge project will be extended by two years to 2020.

In the meantime, there was no agreement with the railways to send a letter to the ERD on Dec 27 from the Prime Minister's Office and instructed Chinese authorities to arrange for a quick agreement signing the matter.