Fund crunch is likely to cause delay in the start of development work of the country's prime Dhaka-Chattogram corridor up to Cox's Bazar.
The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) under the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges has taken on different projects with an investment plan so that the over 300-kilometre corridor can handle increasing traffic following the launch of Matarbari deep sea port in Moheshkhali.
However, sources said none of these projects could proceed during the last six to seven years due to the government's indecision on the modality of funding as initially it was planned to develop the corridor under the public-private and partnership (PPP).
Though the RHD later had to change the decision and subsequently planned to implement Dhaka-Chattogram and Chattogram-Cox's Bazar roads as development projects, it has yet to get confirmation from any funding agencies, they added.
Meanwhile, the Road Transport and Highways Division (RTHD) officials said they have so far received responses from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) to finance only parts of the entire corridor.
They said the total fund needed for the whole corridor is yet to be assessed due to various reasons. However, sources said the cost is likely to be around Tk 900 billion.
The officials said the RHD has already placed a preliminary demand for Tk 700 billion for developing only the 224-km Dhaka-Chattogram part of the corridor dividing the whole work under three zones.
The preliminary development proposal on the project has been sent to the Planning Commission.
Development plan for the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar part of the corridor was also changed as the JICA proposed funding only five intersections of the road instead of funding development of over 124-km corridor as proposed by the RHD.
The intersection development plan is now being studied by the JICA, RTHD officials said.
Meanwhile, the roads and bridges ministry has already sent a proposal to the JICA to fund remaining parts of the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar road in a separate project but is yet to get any response.
Sources said the intersection bottleneck development project may come under discussion during the Bangladesh prime minister's ongoing visit to Japan. But there is no confirmation on the remaining parts.
On the other hand, AIIB interest for the Chattogram-Feni part of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway is at a very initial stage. Even if it is confirmed, it will cover only 67 km of the 224-km corridor.
RTHD proposed that RHD initially go for the development of both Dhaka-Chattogram and Chattogram-Cox's Bazar highways under PPP modality dividing the entire corridor into two parts.
Later, the RHD had to shelve the Dhaka-Chattogram highway project due to instructions from high-ups, though feasibility study and design of the 224-km corridor were carried out as an expressway concept in 2018.
The Chattogram-Cox's Bazar corridor development plan was a proposal under the government-to-government arrangement which was listed following successful discussion during the joint platform meeting between Bangladesh and Japan. But investor Marubini, which was selected by the Japanese side for the project, did not respond positively.
Preferring not to be named, an official of RTHD, however, said the government has to move from its decision on implementing the projects on PPP to reduce the time of implementation as it takes quite a long time to complete PPP projects.
"Whatever the plans are, a huge fund, which is yet to be confirmed, will be required to build the entire corridor," he added.
As the traffic volume of this prime corridor increases more than 10 per cent annual rate, the Dhaka-Chattogram highway has already started experiencing tailback within five to six years after completion of the four-lane work, leaving people as well as cargo freight to wait for hours.
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