Agrani Bank proud to be a part of Padma Bridge

Agrani Bank is proud to be a part of the country’s dream project Padma Bridge, and it provided $1.4 billion to make this much-cherished initiative a reality, said the state-run bank’s Managing Director and CEO Mohammad Shams-Ul Islam.

Islam detailed his journey involving the country’s largest project to The Business Post’s Mehedi Hasan in an exclusive interview.

Back in 2010-11, when I was a general manager at Agrani Bank, I visited the Bridges Division and met with the then division secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan.

I requested him to involve us if the Bridges Division takes up any big project. Then, we got the chance to get involved in the Padma Bridge project in 2012, and opened an account in our bank for this purpose.

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I am very thankful to the Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam – who was the senior secretary of the Bridges division at that time, and the Padma bridge project director Mohammad Shafiqul Islam – who supported my involvement in this project.

The Bridges Division and the Bangladesh Bank organised a meeting in 2013, and decided that the commercial banks can provide USD to the project, and if there is a need, the central bank will provide USD support to the commercial banks.

We then submitted the letter of comfort to the Bridges Division for providing USD for the Padma Bridge project, and Agrani Bank got involved in the initiative as the provider of USD.

The Agrani Bank maintained the taka account of the project, and when the project needed to pay in USD back in 2013, the bank provided $6.26 million to the initiative for the first time. We supplied $200.76 million in 2014, $183 million in 2015, and $188 million in 2016.

We supplied a total of $1.4 billion to the Padma Bridge project until April this year.

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Agrani Bank supplied that USD amount from its own earnings from remittance and exports, and did not require any dollar support from the central bank. We were inspired by the prime minister, as she implemented the dream project from Bangladesh’s own funds.

Agrani Bank did not face any challenges in supplying USD from its own funds as it is the country’s leading bank in terms of remittance and export earnings. 

Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had given this bank the name “Agrani,” the bank has now successfully participated in the Padma Bridge project.

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We did not have any ambition before the liberation war, and the father of the nation began to build the nation after the Liberation War of 1971, but it stopped abruptly after his murder.

The dream of the father of the nation to build the country resumed when the Awami League – the principal players of Bangladesh’s politics – returned to power.

Padma Bridge is one of the clear examples of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s pioneering activities. The dream of Padma Bridge has become a reality thanks to our prime minister, as she possesses the spirit of facing challenges.

When the World Bank turned their back against funding Bangladesh’s dream project raising allegations of corruption, Sheikh Hasina took the challenge and began completing this project with the country’s own funds.

After several deadline extensions and cost escalations, the Padma Bridge will be inaugurated on June 25 this year.

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The total cost for the 6.15km bridge is Tk 30,193 crore or $3.56 billion. Of this figure, $2.4 billion is being paid in foreign currency and the rest in local currency, according to the Bridges Division, the implementing authority of this project.