The railway ministry has recently proposed extending time and increasing budget for the construction of Khulna-Mongla railway project, which already was amended twice.
The cost of construction of Khulna-Mongla railway has increased by one and a half times against the original cost of Tk 1,721.39 crore while the project extension time was sought up December 2022.
The estimated cost of the project now stands at Tk 4,260.88 crore. As such, the current estimated expenditure is one and a half times higher than the first estimated expenditure.
According to the Planning Commission, out of the total cost of the project, Tk 2,948 crore is being spent from Indian loans. The Bangladesh government will spend the rest of the money on the project titled, “Construction of Railway from Khulna to Mongla Port.”
However, in the second amendment of the project, not only the cost but also the duration has increased. The duration of the project has been extended for an additional one and a half year.
In the meantime, the amendment of the project has been sent to the Planning Commission for approval.
An official of the Planning Commission said the PEC (Project Evaluation Committee) meeting was held on June 9 after receiving the second amendment proposal from the Railway Ministry.
The project has been recommended to present at the next meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) as the recommendations made at that meeting have been complied.
Mamun-al-Rashid, a member of the Physical Infrastructure Division of the Planning Commission in charge of the project, said that the project would connect the Mongla seaport to the existing railway network by constructing a 64.75 km broad gauge railway line from Khulna to Mongla.
“Besides, economic development of the country will be possible through the establishment of regional connectivity by rail,” he said adding that, so the project is approvable.
The Ministry of Railways said that import-export activities at Mongla seaport will increase if it is connected to the railway line.
Besides, oil-carrying containers from Mongla can be operated all over the country. The Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, will provide tourists with safe and comfortable railway transport to the port of Mongla.
The reasons for the revision of the project were the increase in the tender price for the construction work under the project and the increase in the cost of signaling and telecommunication works.
Expenditure on land acquisition, CD VAT, vehicle rental, rehabilitation implementation has come down but expenditure on supervision consultancy has gone up.
Expenditure on manpower and other sectors in the project implementation unit will increase due to extension.
The project also needed to be revised due to the increase in the amount of IT and VAT of the consultants and the inclusion of legislative changes, recruitment and event expenses as new organs in the project.
In view of all the realities, it has been proposed to amend the project as a whole by extending the duration of the project till December 2022.
