BR seeks extra Tk1.95b for land acquisition, two years more

The Bangladesh Railway (BR) has sought an additional Tk1.95 billion for acquiring 3.347 acres of land for the Jamuna railway bridge construction projects, officials said on Tuesday.
The BR has proposed an increase of the land acquisition cost by 56.41 per cent to Tk 5.422 billion from the existing estimation of Tk 3.466 billion as it recently sought revision of the ongoing Japan-funded Jamuna Bridge Construction Project for the 2nd time from the Planning Commission (PC), they said.
"Since the mouza rate and the mutation cost of the land have been enhanced in the recent past, we are compelled to increase the land acquisition cost by some 56 per cent," said a senior BR official preferring anonymity.
A senior PC official said as the lands are being acquired from the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) since the beginning of the project in 2016, the acquisition cost cannot be enhanced by 56.41 per cent to Tk 5.422 billion now.
"If the land is acquired at the initial stage, no additional public fund is required.
The Railway's failure to acquire the land in time may boost the cost enormously. It is very unfortunate," he added requesting for anonymity.
Meanwhile, the BR has scrapped a 'management support consultant' costing Tk 520.69 million from the DPP (development project proposal), they said.
Amid a strict scrutiny of the massive Tk 167.82 billion Jamuna railway bridge construction project, the BR is forced to cut Tk 424.38 million from the original estimation of Tk 687.19 million for constructing museum and rest-house at the project site.
The BR has recently sought revision of the Jamuna bridge construction project with slashing some of the components from the existing DPP, the PC official said.
It has also sought two more years to complete the project until June 2027. The project began 10 years ago in July 2016 at a cost of Tk 97.34 billion.
In March 2020, the project was revised for the first time with the enhancement of its cost by 72.40 per cent to Tk 167.12 billion. The execution time of the project was also extended by two years up to June 2023.
Now the BR has requested the PC for revising the project for the second time, reducing the cost by 1.14 per cent to Tk165.91 billion.
It has also sought two more years up to June 2027 for completing execution of the Jamuna railway bridge. With the proposed revision, the total tenure of the project would be 11 years.
Meanwhile, the BR has proposed a cut in the cost of the main bridge construction work package-1 (WD-1) by Tk 1.65 billion in the second revision.
However, the cost of the package WD-2 has been proposed to be increased by Tk 1.28 billion from its 1st revised cost.
A railway ministry official said although they had cut some less important and unnecessary works from different components of the DPP, the overall cost is not decreasing much due to rise in the costs for both land acquisition and the WD-2 package of the main bridge construction works.
When asked about the proposed time extension for two more years, the Railway Ministry official said since it will have a one-year 'defect liability period' after completion of the project.
As of November 2025, the BR has completed about 99.30 per cent of the physical works of the Jamuna railway bridge.
Meanwhile, the government has opened the railway bridge for the trains in March 2025.