‘Assess supplier’s capability first’

A project to procure 200 metre gauge passenger carriages for Bangladesh Railway has made no progress in six years, and its officials have been asked to first assess the supplier’s capability before proceeding further.

The Standing Committee on Non-Concessional Loan at a recent project steering committee (PSC) meeting said project work should begin after examining the supplier’s capability.

The project to replace the old and expired passenger carriages was approved in 2016 with an estimated cost of Tk 927.51 crore. Of that, the government would provide Tk 214 crore while Tk 713.52 crore would come from aid. The project’s estimated deadline is June 30, 2024.

The railway deputy secretary concerned told the PSC meeting the project should be shut down as there was no progress in six years and another one would be taken up if necessary.

The Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division director general told the meeting purchasing carriages on a small scale every year under the revenue budget could be considered instead of implementing the project under tenderers’ financing.

The project director said purchasing metre gauge passenger carriages is necessary as most of the existing ones have expired. He said the PSC at its 29th meeting in 2019 approved the financier’s financial proposal for commercial loan. The commercial agreement was signed between Bangladesh Railway and CRRC Sifang Co, a Chinese supplier, in 2018.

The meeting noted the interest rate is higher for hard loans and hence should be avoided in another project under tenderers’ financing.

Taking to The Business Post, SM Salimullah Bahar, chief planning officer at Bangladesh Railway, said the project was being delayed as the Chinese supplier’s capability was not assessed during the Covid-19 pandemic. Now the PSC has proposed assessing the capability first before proceeding with the project’s other work, he included.