Cost of Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway goes up by Tk651cr

The cost of the much-awaited Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway has gone up by Tk651 crore as the local currency has been depreciated against the US dollar, officials of the Planning Commission said.

The Road Transport and Bridges Ministry has also sought another four years and sent the revised Development Project Proposal (DPP) to the Planning Commission for the approval of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), a senior official of the Planning Ministry told The Business Post.

The construction works of the project was supposed to begin in September 2017 but the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) has failed to start it in five years.

Earlier, when the project was taken up the dollar-taka exchange rate was Tk80.57 but it has gone up to Tk86 recently during the revised Development Project Proposal (DPP) resulting in the rise in the cost of the project, they said.

Currently, Bangladesh Bank has set a uniform dollar-taka exchange rate at Tk89 for interbank exchange.

Now according to the rescheduling of the project it will be implemented by June 2026 and the cost of the project has been estimated at Tk17, 553 crore.

Of the money, China will give Tk9692 crore while Tk7860 crore will come from the government exchequer, the official said.

The government will bear the additional fund of the project, they said.

Member of the Physical Infrastructure Division of the Planning Commission Md Mamun Al Rashid said mainly, the cost of the project had been increased due to the increased dollar-taka exchange rate.

The project was delayed due to slow loan disbursement from the lender. The Covid-19 pandemic is also the reason for the delay in the construction works.

“We will place the first revision of the project before the ECNEC on Wednesday,” he said, adding that the additional cost will come from the state coffer.

The 24-km-long elevated expressway will connect Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and Nabinagar Junction via Abdullahpur-Ashulia Bypass and Chandra Junction via EPZ.

Once the project is implemented, road communication between Dhaka and 30 northern districts will be smoother and traffic congestions will ease. Besides, traffic jams in Abdullahpur-Ashulia-Baipail-Chandra areas will ease.

The expressway will also connect southern and eastern districts linking important commercial and business areas, including Gazipur and Ashulia.