India-funded projects hit an impasse

Work on eight rail and road projects financed by India has remained halted for one and a half months, causing further delays to the already drawn-out projects.

All work ground to a halt after employees of Indian contracting and consulting firms left Bangladesh due to safety concerns following the fall of the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League government on August 5.

Finance and Commerce Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on September 10 said projects financed by India would continue considering their importance for the country.

Meeting the adviser the same day, Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma also said Indian contractors would return and resume work on the projects.

Yet, there is no end in sight to the impasse.

One of these eight projects aims to improve the capacity of vital sections that connect the capital with most of the country's rail network by laying the third and fourth lines on the Dhaka-Tongi route and a second line on the Tongi-Joydebpur route.

The Bangladesh Railway undertook the project in November 2012 at an initial cost of Tk 848.60 crore without conducting a feasibility study or drafting detailed designs.

The project was supposed to be completed by June 2015, but physical work only started in February 2019 due to complexities over the design and tendering process, poor planning and a lack of coordination among different government agencies.

As such, the project's deadline was revised to June 2027 and costs increased nearly 300 percent to Tk 3,342 crore.

Now, the project, which saw only 35 percent progress till April this year, is contending with a fresh roadblock.

"Over 50 Indians involved in contracting and consulting firms have left the country after August 5 citing security concerns. So, civil works on our projects are halted now," Nazneen Ara Keya, project director, said recently.

"The project is getting delayed further due to this situation."

As such, she said they had sent a letter through the Bangladesh Railway to the authority concerned seeking necessary safety measures.

India is supposed to provide over $7 billion in loans under three lines of credit (LoCs).

The first LoC worth $862 million for 15 projects was signed in 2010 while the second was signed in 2016 for $2 billion for 12 projects. A third credit deal was signed for $4.5 billion for 15 projects.

Overall, there are 42 projects under the three LoCs. Of them, 14 have been completed at a cost of around $410 million, or around 6 percent of the overall commitment under the first two credit deals.

According to the terms of the deal, all project-related materials must be procured from India and all contractors and consultants must be hired from India.

"BILATERAL PROJECTS HAVE BEEN IMPACTED"

Those involved in Indian-funded projects left Dhaka two or three days after the fall of the previous government in the face of a student-led mass uprising in line with directives from the Indian High Commission in Dhaka, project officials said.

Randhir Jaiswal, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs of India, said "bilateral projects have been impacted" due to the turmoil in Bangladesh, the Indian Express reported on 30.

"Work on some of the projects has stalled and has been affected because of the law-and-order situation. Once the situation stabilises, normalcy is restored, then we will talk to (Dhaka)..," he said.

Out of six ongoing railway projects under an Indian LoC, only work on the Khulna-Mongla Rail Line has been completed. But although it was inaugurated last year, the work has not been officially completed.

Meanwhile, work on the five other projects is expected to be delayed further, Bangladesh Railway officials said.

The five projects are: the construction of the third and fourth dual gauge lines in the Dhaka-Tongi section and dual gauge double line in the Tongi-Joydebpur section; rehabilitation of the Kulaura-Shahbazpur section; conversion of the metre-gauge into a dual gauge line from Parbatipur to the Kaunia section; construction of double line in the Khulna-Darshana section; and construction of dual gauge line from Bogura to Sirajganj.

Sardar Shahadat Ali, director general of Bangladesh Railways, said Indian people involved in the rail projects had not returned yet, hampering implementation.

Construction of the third and fourth lines along the Dhaka-Tongi route is facing severe problems as locals involved in the project have not been paid for the past three months due to the absence of Indian contractors.

Additionally, the Roads and Highways Department is implementing two projects under the Indian LoC.

One of the projects, which aims to widen the 51 km road connecting the Ashuganj river port to the Akhaura land port to four lanes, was supposed to be completed by 2020 at a cost of Tk 3,567.85 crore.

However, the deadline was revised to June 2025 while costs rose to Tk 5,791 crore.

The project has seen around 50 percent physical progress so far, Project Director Abdul Awal Molla said.

"But work remains halted as Indian nationals involved in the project have not returned yet," he told The Daily Star yesterday.

The other project to build a 50km road from Cumilla's Mainamati to Brahmanbaria's Dharkhar is now at the preliminary stage. So it has not been hampered, a project official said.