Dhaka has urged New Delhi to speed up endorsement of the project proposals, taken under three Indian Lines of Credit (LoCs), and to simplify their procurement procedures, as these processes are delaying implementation of some projects, officials said.
At a review meeting on Monday, Bangladesh also requested India to modify some terms and conditions of the procurement system, so that the ongoing and upcoming projects under the multi-billion dollar LoCs can be executed in time, they also said.
The Joint Monitoring Team (JMT) of Dhaka and Delhi sat for reviewing the progress of the projects under the LoC-I, II and III at the Economic Relations Division (ERD) in the capital.
An ERD additional secretary, representatives from the project implementing agencies, Indian Deputy High Commissioner in Bangladesh Adarsh Swaika, and the Indian EXIM Bank country representative were present at the JMT review meeting, among others.
Bangladesh is now implementing three projects under the LoC-I worth US$ 862 million, some 14 projects under the $2.0-billion LoC-II, and some 15 (proposed) projects under the $4.5-billion LoC-III.
Officials from the government agencies concerned said some changes regarding procurement of goods, services and works have been incorporated in the provisions of LoC-III from those in the LoC-I and the LoC-II. But, sometimes those changes are creating obstacles to the project execution process.
The Indian authorities concerned are sometimes taking much time to endorse some project proposals and procurement contracts. It is hampering project execution in time. So, we have requested them at the review meeting to speed up their approval process, they added.
Meanwhile, an ERD official said: "The meeting to review the projects under the Indian LoCs was held for removing obstacles on the way to their implementation process."
He said the Indian government disbursed loan worth of $80 million during the first eight months (July-Feb) of the current fiscal year (FY), 2018-19. It disbursed $47 million in the last FY.
The Ministry of Finance (MoF) officials said the progress of some Indian-aided projects, especially under the LoC-II and the LoC-III, is still unsatisfactory.
They also said the project implementing agencies have so far failed to complete three development projects under the LoC-I, confirmed eight years ago. Bangladesh took 15 projects under the LoC-I after India confirmed its $862 million loan in August 2010.
Besides, the agencies have failed to sign commercial contracts for even half of the proposed development projects under the $2.0-billion LoC-II due to procurement-related complexities, another MoF official said.
Meanwhile, some projects under the $4.5-billion LoC-III have received approval from the Indian side for starting their execution. In October 2017, the government signed an agreement with Indian EXIM Bank to receive the fund.
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