The Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) has proposed to spend Tk 358.9 million from the fund of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge (PMB) project for purchasing vehicles, fuels and their maintenance, officials said Friday.
Officials said the BBA has recently sought revision of the PMB project cost hiking it by nearly 40 per cent to Tk 287.93 billion.
The cost after the first revision of the project in 2011 had stood Tk 205.07 billion.
The BBA has sought Tk 158.9 million for purchasing 44 vehicles and two speedboats, Tk 150 million for purchasing fuel and engine oil and Tk 50 million for maintenance of the vehicles during the project period until June 2020.
As per the revised development project proposal (DPP), the BBA has sought higher allocation of Tk 150 million for procurement of fuel for the vehicles. Tk 40 million was allocated in the first revised DPP.
It has also sought Tk 30 million in addition to Tk 50 million allocated in the revised DPP in five years of the project tenure.
It means each of the 46 vehicles including 15 motor-cycles and speedboats will get Tk 18,115 allocation on an average per month for repair works in the five-year tenure, the officials said.
A Road Transport and Bridges Ministry official said the higher fund requirement for purchasing vehicles, fuel and for their repair/maintenance works is highly ambitious for a poor country like Bangladesh.
He said the government has to mobilise the entire funds from its own coffer for constructing the 6.15 kilometre bridge.
A Bridge Division official said the BBA would procure 29 cars, 15 motor cycles and two speedboats at a cost of Tk 15.89 billion under the newly proposed Tk 287.93 billion Padma Bridge project.
After scrutinising the revised proposal, the PC has raised its observation about inclusion of the fresh component saying it has raised the overall cost of the Padma Bridge project.
A top PC official said financing of the huge Padma Bridge project from the country's internal sources is a big challenge for the government. Inclusion of such a less-priority component could affect the bridge construction, he feared.
The government has already started works on the construction of the country's largest bridge at the Mawa-Janjira point on the Padma River.
The government in May 2014 signed a deal with China Major Bridge Engineering Company Limited for constructing the bridge.
Under the deal, the company will build the main bridge within four years with a budget of Tk 121.32 billion.
The government has also appointed another Chinese company Sino Hydro for river training works of the Padma Bridge, two local companies for construction of approach roads at Mawa and Janjira sides, and the Bangladesh Army and a Korean firm for supervision works of the bridge project.
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BBA seeks to hike Padma Bridge cost to buy vehicles
FHM Humayan Kabir | Published: June 20, 2015 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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