Inaction by Indian side holds up implementation

Despite the Bangladesh government's green signal to go ahead, uncertainty over implementation of the projects of Bangladesh Railway (BR) under the Indian Line of Credit (LoC) is still persisting due to continued inaction by the authorities concerned from the Indian side.
The Bogura-Sirajganj dual gauge railway project would be the worst sufferer as no progress could be made since October last year for not getting any response from the Exim Bank of India on the shortlisted companies to implement the project, sources said.
Other projects are Dhaka-Tongi 3rd and 4th lane construction, Khulna-Darshana dual gauge track and Parbatipur-Kaunia dual gauge line.
Implementation of all these projects was affected as the consultants and contractors, mostly from India, left the country amid student-led quota reform movement and mass uprising, followed by the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government.
"We don't know where we are now in terms of implementation of the LoC projects. We're in constant touch with the Indian side and they also assured us of resuming work," said one official at the Economic Relations Division (ERD), preferring not to be named.
Sources, however, said that though the recent regime change has had some impacts, most of the projects have been witnessing slow implementation progress for the last one year.
Observing the current situation, they said, some contractors have expressed their willingness to resume work on the under-implementation projects, but the Indian High Commission in Dhaka allegedly has held them back despite having visas of the workforce of the Indian contractors and consultants.
Project office sources said the Tk 55.79 billion or $ 379 million Sirajganj-Bogura project has already suffered a cost hike of $ 300 million due to the delay.
The project was taken after a feasibility study conducted in 2010, but its implementation period started according to the development project proposal in 2018. The second revision of the DPP increased the project tenure until June 2025 from 2023 and 2024 in the first revision.
The project was taken to reduce the distance to and from Monsur Ali Station in Sirajganj to Bogura by 112 kilometres.
"If the project tenure passes without any progress, cost in terms of quantity and quality cannot be the same," said an official.
Feasibility study and detailed design work of the Khulna-Darsana dual gauge project completed a few months ago while the Dhaka-Tongi 3rd and 4th lane project have been delayed due to other internal problems.
The Parbatipur-Kaunia dual gauge project's detailed design work is underway after completion of the feasibility study.
Railways Secretary Abdul Baki said the ministry has cleared its position to the Indian side through the ERD considering the importance of all the LoC-funded projects.
"We have noticed some Indians have returned to the project sites but are not enough to take these projects forward," he told the FE at his office.
The Indian High Commission has assured of continuing its support during a meeting with the finance adviser after the fall of the previous government.

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