The project, when approved in 2007, was supposed to cost Tk 10,162 crore, but in 2011 it was revised upwards to Tk 20,507 crore.
The project cost was revised once again yesterday at a meeting of the Executive Committee of National Economic Council, chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told reporters after the meeting that the cost projected in 2007 was totally based on approximation without any detailed design or feasibility study.
The bridges division got the detailed engineering estimate, from local and foreign experts, only in 2014, and based on that, the project cost was adjusted.
But the actual amounts on the contracts are lower, he said.
For instance, according to the engineers’ estimates, the main bridge component would cost Tk 13,886 crore. But the contract for it has been awarded at Tk 12,133 crore, Kamal said.
“If that is taken into consideration, the cost has not increased; rather, it has decreased.”
According to the proposal from the bridges division, a feasibility study on the project was conducted with assistance from JICA during 2003 to 2005. On the basis of that, the original cost was estimated in 2007.
With financing from the Asian Development Bank, work on preparing a detailed design for the bridge started in 2009. Based on that, at the end of 2010 the project cost of first revision was estimated.
In the original project cost the rail track was not included. But in the first revision in 2011 it was included, which almost doubled the estimated costs. In the first revision, the Padma bridge project was scheduled for completion in 2015. But now, it has been extended to 2018, which raised the costs. The exchange rate was Tk 69 per dollar during the first revision. But in the second revision it was Tk 74.45 to Tk 78.40.
The cost for the construction of the main bridge has now increased 45 percent compared to 2011 estimate.
Another major component of the project is river training work, the cost of which increased the most in the second revision, by 114 percent. In 2014, China’s Sinohydro Corporation was awarded the contract for this component of the project for Tk 8,708 crore.
But in the second revision, the cost for river training increased to Tk 9,400 crore, as an additional 1.3 kilometres of work of river training will have to be done at the Mawa end by two other parties.
Besides, the costs for different approach roads, resettlement and land acquisition have also gone up. An additional Tk 408 crore will be needed for road widening, shifting of jetties, and laying out approach roads.
However, the amount allocated for miscellaneous costs have been brought down in the new revision. In 2011, it was estimated at Tk 3,979 crore; now it has come down to Tk 2,539 crore. Sinohydro Corporation has landed the work for two of the five major components of the project, while China Major Bridge Engineering Construction Company has been awarded the contract for constructing the 6.15 km-long main bridge.
The project is running four years behind schedule after the World Bank withdrew its $1.2 billion loan in 2012 over allegations of corruption conspiracies. The government then moved to build the bridge with its own funds.
Before the WB’s withdrawal, four foreign donors had committed $2.3 billion for the project. Now, no foreign fund is being used for the project save for just $200 million grant from the $1 billion Indian credit to Bangladesh.
