A western transport corridor to the world
Saturday, 7 July 2007
LOOKING at Bangladesh in a geographical sense, the country is split into two halves by the mighty Jamuna, Padma and Meghna rivers. These three rivers combine to divide the country in nature's own way. But nature has also divided Bangladesh in other ways. In a geological look at Bangladesh, the Eastern side has always been blessed with reserves of natural gas. Running from Sylhet in the north to Feni in the south, the gas fields stretch all the way to the Mouth of the Ganges.
The Eastern zone has the capital city of Dhaka which is the business and financial hub. The East has the privileges of having natural gas as a cheap cooking fuel and used as a cheap automotive fuel by having extensive pipelines down the country. Situated only 260km east of Dhaka, the Chittagong Port is the major port for imported and exported goods in and out of the country. With a good majority of the power stations positioned on the Eastern side, power is given more preference to these larger business centres.
On the side, the West is void of natural gas reserves and supply. The huge costly expense of transporting the gas via a pipeline has deterred many a Governments from implementing as there is virtually no chance of any return on the investment. The lack of gas and electricity has contributed a lot to the virtual halt for business and industry to develop. Continual load-shedding and black-outs are now the way of life. The Port of Mongla has suffered from lack of infrastructure. Being in such a strategic location for the country, the port has been left to die a slow death.
But all that now looks like that it is about to change. With a substantial new coal resource now recognised in the North West of the country, there are various proposals for investment in this coal sector that would bring growth and infrastructure to the region that could outshine the East. With Barapukuria coal mine and Phulbari coal project alone having a combined resource of nearly 1.0 billion tonnes of coal, there are suggestions that there could be another two billion tonnes of coal within the sector area. This would secure the energy needs of Bangladesh for the next 100 years and beyond.
It is not just about the creation of a coal mine that will build the growth in the country. It is also the infrastructure that will be needed to export the coal and to import the consumables and equipment for the mines. With the Phulbari coal project having 572 million tonnes of coal reserves, 360km of track will be needed to be upgraded into a heavy broad gauge line from the north of the country to Khulna or Mongla Port in the south and into India. It will create an import-export corridor for Western Bangladesh that will attract more industry users and that will in turn increase the import export capabilities of the region.
Transporting the coal throughout Bangladesh from Phulbari would alone quadruple the current freight handling of Bangladesh Railway (BR). The coal business would help transform BR into a heavy haulage provider for all future mines and industries as well. It would bring track and signaling upgrades and increase revenues to fund improvements in new locomotives, rolling stock and the further development of Bangladesh Railway.
Using Akram Point for a deep water loading facility, the coal would bring much needed revenue to the port. This new revenue stream would help fund future dredging projects, new equipment and navigational aids for the riverway. The coal business would revitalise Mongla Port and entice world shipping back to the region.
It would then give Bangladesh a two-sided East/West port option, which would increase efficiencies through the competitiveness of having two ports. Bangladesh in the past has had disruptions in the form of shipping accidents, cyclones and adverse weather conditions. With the Chittagong Port being the main port of the country, a closure would effectively stop the countries inflow of goods and outflow of revenue earning exports. Having a Western port option with an upgraded rail link to Dhaka and to the North of the country, will guard against this.
There is also the potential for this upgraded port and rail facility to become the preferred route for importing and exporting commodities to and from Nepal, Bhutan, India and other land-locked countries. This would increase the opportunity for global trade for these regions and at the same time generate extra revenue for government-related agencies. Communities would also be able to export and import items more efficiently. The improved rail corridor will also contribute to a more reliable passenger service.
A 500MW to 1000MW power station has been proposed by Asia Energy to be built at the mouth of the mine in Phulbari which would inject much needed capacity into the Western Grid -- power for businesses, industries and towns along the corridor.
On the whole, this will create huge benefits to Western region of the country. It will bring life all the way up the country linking communities and industries together. Companies like Asia Energy would be the catalyst for this infrastructure. and development that otherwise would not have been done with future governments or in our life time.
Already with the backing of the Asian Development Bank and World Bank for the funding of this project, this rail corridor is set to bring new life to the West. The spin-off for such a project for the government is substantial increase in rail and port revenues, import duties on equipment, material and fuel, jobs, international rail transit traffic and internal improvements -- all amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars in improvements. All of a sudden, the West is, thus, looking a whole lot better than ever before.
The Eastern zone has the capital city of Dhaka which is the business and financial hub. The East has the privileges of having natural gas as a cheap cooking fuel and used as a cheap automotive fuel by having extensive pipelines down the country. Situated only 260km east of Dhaka, the Chittagong Port is the major port for imported and exported goods in and out of the country. With a good majority of the power stations positioned on the Eastern side, power is given more preference to these larger business centres.
On the side, the West is void of natural gas reserves and supply. The huge costly expense of transporting the gas via a pipeline has deterred many a Governments from implementing as there is virtually no chance of any return on the investment. The lack of gas and electricity has contributed a lot to the virtual halt for business and industry to develop. Continual load-shedding and black-outs are now the way of life. The Port of Mongla has suffered from lack of infrastructure. Being in such a strategic location for the country, the port has been left to die a slow death.
But all that now looks like that it is about to change. With a substantial new coal resource now recognised in the North West of the country, there are various proposals for investment in this coal sector that would bring growth and infrastructure to the region that could outshine the East. With Barapukuria coal mine and Phulbari coal project alone having a combined resource of nearly 1.0 billion tonnes of coal, there are suggestions that there could be another two billion tonnes of coal within the sector area. This would secure the energy needs of Bangladesh for the next 100 years and beyond.
It is not just about the creation of a coal mine that will build the growth in the country. It is also the infrastructure that will be needed to export the coal and to import the consumables and equipment for the mines. With the Phulbari coal project having 572 million tonnes of coal reserves, 360km of track will be needed to be upgraded into a heavy broad gauge line from the north of the country to Khulna or Mongla Port in the south and into India. It will create an import-export corridor for Western Bangladesh that will attract more industry users and that will in turn increase the import export capabilities of the region.
Transporting the coal throughout Bangladesh from Phulbari would alone quadruple the current freight handling of Bangladesh Railway (BR). The coal business would help transform BR into a heavy haulage provider for all future mines and industries as well. It would bring track and signaling upgrades and increase revenues to fund improvements in new locomotives, rolling stock and the further development of Bangladesh Railway.
Using Akram Point for a deep water loading facility, the coal would bring much needed revenue to the port. This new revenue stream would help fund future dredging projects, new equipment and navigational aids for the riverway. The coal business would revitalise Mongla Port and entice world shipping back to the region.
It would then give Bangladesh a two-sided East/West port option, which would increase efficiencies through the competitiveness of having two ports. Bangladesh in the past has had disruptions in the form of shipping accidents, cyclones and adverse weather conditions. With the Chittagong Port being the main port of the country, a closure would effectively stop the countries inflow of goods and outflow of revenue earning exports. Having a Western port option with an upgraded rail link to Dhaka and to the North of the country, will guard against this.
There is also the potential for this upgraded port and rail facility to become the preferred route for importing and exporting commodities to and from Nepal, Bhutan, India and other land-locked countries. This would increase the opportunity for global trade for these regions and at the same time generate extra revenue for government-related agencies. Communities would also be able to export and import items more efficiently. The improved rail corridor will also contribute to a more reliable passenger service.
A 500MW to 1000MW power station has been proposed by Asia Energy to be built at the mouth of the mine in Phulbari which would inject much needed capacity into the Western Grid -- power for businesses, industries and towns along the corridor.
On the whole, this will create huge benefits to Western region of the country. It will bring life all the way up the country linking communities and industries together. Companies like Asia Energy would be the catalyst for this infrastructure. and development that otherwise would not have been done with future governments or in our life time.
Already with the backing of the Asian Development Bank and World Bank for the funding of this project, this rail corridor is set to bring new life to the West. The spin-off for such a project for the government is substantial increase in rail and port revenues, import duties on equipment, material and fuel, jobs, international rail transit traffic and internal improvements -- all amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars in improvements. All of a sudden, the West is, thus, looking a whole lot better than ever before.