Indian economic zone get PMO nudge

The Bangladesh government is close to approving an $88 million project to set up a special economic zone for Indian investors in Mongla and Bheramarha as the first venture of the $2 billion line of credit given by India. The Prime Minister’s Office had recently asked the Planning Ministry to approve in principle the ‘Establishment of Indian Economic Zones in Mongla and Bheramara’.  A senior planning commission official said, on condition of anonymity on Wednesday that they have been instructed to prepare a Development Project Proposal (DPP) soon for consideration by the ECNEC.  However, it is not on the list of the 13 project mentioned in the LOC’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) inked during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Dhaka visit in June. A Preliminary Development Project Proposal by the PMO advised an early approval of the project, to be implemented by the Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority and fast track its implementation for completion by June 2017.  The MoU said India would bear $2 billion of the 13 projects estimated to cost $2.37 billion. The rest would be borne by the Bangladesh government.  The money would be used to hasten the development of the railways, water transport, power, health, education and ICT. Finance ministry officials said the terms of the LOC will be similar to the previous $1 billion line of credit extended by India, under which at least 75 per cent of the goods and services for the projects would have to be procured from India. The credit will also have an interest rate of 1 per cent, which is a little higher than that of World Bank loans, according t6o bdnews24.com.

-SRS