India\\\'s soft loan to Bangladesh cleared

Almost the entire Indian soft loan to Bangladesh has been cleared as Dhaka and Delhi emerge from the Hasina-Manmohan era into a possible new phase with Narendra Modi as India’s prime minister. The relationship had often been described “at its best” in the last five years when Delhi provided a $ 800 million line of credit and $200 million in grants to Dhaka. That was touted as a major component of the emerging bilateral relations. It was the largest ever one-time assistance offered by India to any country ever. According to the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, 15 projects had been approved so far and they will use up $ 751.95 million of the credit. The remaining nearly $50 million will be used for the extension of the Khulna-Mongla railway link. Dhaka has already received $ 150 million in grants in three tranches -- only $50 million more will come in another tranche. The line of credit agreement signed initially was pegged at $ 1 billion in 2010, but later India converted $ 200 million of them into grants. The interest rate was initially fixed at 1.75 per cent, but later was brought down to 1 per cent, according to bdnews24.com.