Tk 2,906cr project taken to develop 3 land ports

The government has decided to go for the infrastructural development and upgradation of the country’s three major land ports — Benapole in Jashore, Bhomra in Satkhira and Burimari in Lalmonirhat — with a Tk 2,906 crore project to extensively boost trades with India and Bhutan.

The Planning Commission finalised the plan at a Project Evaluation Committee meeting on May 12, chaired by the commission’s Physical Infrastructure Division (PID) Member (Secretary) Md Mamun-Al-Rashid.

Of the total cost of the project, Tk 578 crore will come from the government and Tk 2,328 crore will come as assistance from other sources, Mamun told the meeting.

Bangladesh Land Port Authority (BSBK), which operates under Shipping Ministry, will implement the project, titled “Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal (BBIN) Regional Transport and Trade Facilitation Program: Bangladesh Phase-1,” between July 2022 and June 2026.

At the meeting, BSBK Chairman Md Alamgir said that the project will bring about huge infrastructure development at the three land ports to facilitate smooth movements of goods, transports and passengers between Bangladesh, India and Bhutan.

According to PID’s Rail Transport Wing officials, Tk 505 crore has been estimated as the expenditure for the acquisition of 150 acres of land for two ports.

Benapole land port currently sits on 85 acres of land and 90 more acres will be acquired for the development activities. Bhomra port already has 25 acres and 60 more acres will have to be acquired. The land acquisition issue for Burimari port was not discussed in the meeting.

The project comes as a significant fresh push for developing regional connectivity after World Bank offered $750 million to salvage the struggling BBIN corridor that aims to connect four South Asian nations, say Economic Relations Division officials.

They said the global lender has agreed to assist in improving the ports’ efficiency, modernisation of customs, trade facilitation and upgrading the regional-connectivity infrastructures.

BBIN is a regional transport initiative where a motor-vehicle agreement was signed in June 2015 for developing a sub-regional protocol for a cost-effective, efficient and seamless multimodal transport system linking Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal.

However, officials at the May 12 meeting said the World Bank is yet to clarify which sectors of the land port development project would get how much of its money.