MoS finds Paira-Dhaka rail line project feasible

The ministry of shipping (MoS) has found the proposal of the UK-based DP Rail on connecting the new sea port at Paira with capital Dhaka through railway feasible, officials have said.
The rail connectivity of the port with Dhaka is very important, they added.
The DP Rail has proposed to invest US$7.5 billion to bankroll the railway project.
It has submitted a package proposal on financing, designing, construction, operation and maintenance of the proposed rail line.
 A senior MoS official told the FE that the ministry has considered the proposal good and it is now awaiting consent from the ministry of railways.
 He said the prime minister's office (PMO) too wants both the ministries to take a quick decision on the project.
 Shipping Secretary Ashoke Madhab Roy, at a recent meeting on the issue, supported the DP Rail's proposal and said the FDI-based investment is a long- term one.
 Usually, this type of investors themselves attracts customers to make their projects profitable, he said.
 Officials said the DP Rail has proposed to build the 240 km rail line also to carry goods to various other destinations.

 "We recognise that this will be a truly exciting and vitally important infrastructure investment for Bangladesh. Building on close connections and a long history of collaboration between our two countries, the UK government and the UK rail supply industry are supporting the project which presents Bangladesh with a best-of-British solution," director of UK Trade and investment Ruzina Hasan wrote in a letter to Railways Secretary Feroz Salah Uddin supporting DP Rail's proposal.
 She also said, the DP Rail is being supported by major Chinese rail companies like CCECC and the parent organisation, CRCC.
Ms Hasan requested the ministry to let the DP Rail sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for construction of the rail line.  A senior MoS official said Paira port is a fast-track project of the government. The government is trying to build the port as early as possible considering its importance for speedy economic development of the country.
 Recently, the Paira Port Authority (PPA) signed a MoU for capital and maintenance dredging of the main channel of the port with a Belgian company Jan De Nul.
 The government is actively looking for funds for building the country's third seaport, he said. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Paira port on November 19, 2013 at Kalapara upazila of Patuakhali district.
 Installation of necessary equipment for running it as an anchorage port is underway. As an anchorage port, cargoes will be offloaded from mother vessels at outer/inner anchorage and transported to  hinterlands through river routes.
 The government has set a target to operate the port by 2018 with at least one multipurpose and one bulk terminal where deep-draught vessels can berth safely. The port will go for full-fledged operation by 2023 with all associated facilities.
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