The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) has assured the government of providing US$300 million for constructing the country's proposed mega project Padma Bridge, a senior official said Thursday.
The assurance of IDB came at a time when the communications ministry, the project implementing authority, had been working tirelessly to raise money from donors for the Tk 101.6175 billion ($1.46 billion) Padma bridge project aiming to start its constriction work on time, a senior ministry official said Thursday.
Meantime, the government has received assurance from three big donors- Japan, Word Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB)- which have pledged for providing $950 million fund out of the total cost of $1.46 billion Padma Bridge project.
We are looking for mobilising the remaining funds from both the internal and external sources, the official said.
"We've formally appealed to the IDB last month. The multilateral donor has replied to us early this month and given assurance of $300 million fund for the proposed bridge construction," a joint secretary of the economic relations division (ERD) said.
During a meeting earlier on May 12 in Dhaka, the finance adviser requested the visiting IDB president Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali to provide funds for constructing the proposed South Asia's largest bridge Padma.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the mega project on October 20 last year for construction of the Padma bridge that will link the country's deprived southwest zone with the flourishing eastern zones including capital Dhaka.
The construction works of the proposed 5.558 kilometres length and 25 metres width four-lane bridge with a provision of a railway track at Mawa-Janjira point on the river Padma is expected to be complete by the fiscal year 2014-2015.
The joint secretary said: "The IDB has proposed us to disburse the loan at a service charge (interest rate) of London inter-bank offered rate (LIBOR) plus 0.55 per cent. The repayment period will be 15 years with a five years grace period."
"We will try to reduce the service charge and extend the repayment tenure. We will sit for negotiations with the Jeddah-based multilateral donor," he said.
A communications ministry official said the detailed design of the country's proposed largest bridge Padma is likely to be started within a couple of months aiming to begin its construction work from early 2010.
The ADB confirmed their US$17.6 million loan to complete the detailed design for the construction of the Padma Bridge.
