Padma Bridge earns Tk74.27cr in 30 days

The government earned Tk 74.27 crore in tolls from vehicles using the Padma Bridge in the first 30 days of inauguration – from June 26 to July 24. The Bangladesh Bridge Authority collected this amount from 6,04,938 vehicles through toll collection booths at Mawa and Zajira ends.

Speaking to The Business Post, Project Director (PD) of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project Md Shafiqul Islam said, “We are happy about the toll collected in the last 30 days. This is going well according to our projection.”

“The projection of toll collection and number of vehicles to use the bridge was made back in 2018. But the number of vehicles has now gone up, and will continue to go up in the coming days.” He added that as per the projection, the construction cost of Padma Bridge would be recovered in the next 25 years. “But considering the current trend, we will be able to recover the costs before this period.”

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the bridge on June 25, and it was opened for vehicles on the next day. Authorities collected the daily highest amount of toll – hitting Tk 4.19 crore – from the bridge on July 8, which was also the beginning of this year’s Eid-ul-Azha holidays.

According to the Padma Bridge project estimations, the authorities are projected to earn Tk 1,430 crore as toll from vehicles within a year into the inauguration, totaling more than Tk 90,000 crore in 35 years. The bridge construction cost was Tk 30,193.39 crore, so the government will need 35 years to start making profits after paying back loans and meeting all maintenance and operational expenses.

The Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) took a loan from the government to build the project, and they will have to pay back Tk 36,000 crore with interest in the next 35 years. The BBA will also pay for maintenance, operation, river management, VAT and tax from the collected toll.

According to the loan agreement, the BBA will not get all of the collected money. They will pay VAT from the earnings, pay fees to the toll collection company for their services and then pay loan installments in every three months to the finance ministry.

There will be no profit for the next few years. In the 35 years, the loan amount must be returned with interest at the rate of 1 percent. For this, installments will have to be paid every three months. The loan amount (interest and actual) will be repaid in 140 installments. In the first year of inauguration, the BBA will pay Tk 596 crore as installment and in the 10th year, the amount will be Tk 850 crore. By the 16th year, installments will exceed TK 1,000 crore. In the 35th year, the loan installments will be TK 1,300 crore.

The BBA will hopefully continue making profits after paying installments in 2029. By the year 2050, the profit from the Padma Bridge will be around Tk 900 crore.