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The Bengali government plans to build five bridges with the help of loans from the New Development Bank (NDB) as it waits for the financing agreements from the group since its membership admission in 2021.
It is reported that the five bridge projects which will total to approximately USD 8.9 billion will be serviced by the financing agreements with NDB.
The two most significant and large projects include a bridge to connect he mainland near Barishal and the Bhola district with a projected cost of USD 1.615 billion, as per the final report of a feasibility study and the second one is to link Paturia with Daulatdia over the Padma River with an estimated cost of around USD 2.8 billion.
Project locations
The proposed bridge over the Kalabodor and Tetulia rivers aims to establish direct road connectivity between mainland Barishal and Bhola.
The other three Bridges Division projects for which loan proposals have been sent to the NDB are a bridge on the Bakerganj-Bauphal road over the Karkhana River, one on the Bhola-Lakshmipur road over the Meghna River, and either a tunnel or a bridge over the Maheshkhali channel in Cox’s Bazar.
Currently there is a ferry that provides transportation services over the 3.3km stretch of this section of the Padma River. About 60 km south east from the proposed location of the second Padma bridge is Bangladeshi’s largest bridge.
Bangladesh and the New Development Bank (NDB)
Bangladesh joined the New Development Bank membership in 2021 together with the United Arab Emirates, Uruguay and Egypt. This multilateral development bank was established by the BRICS economic bloc states (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) and was formerly known as the BRICS’s Development Bank.
Along with an NDB delegation, the bank’s Vice president and Chief Operating Officer Vladmir Kazbekov made the groups inaugural visit to Bangladesh last month. According to a statement from NDB, discussions were primarily focused on advancing infrastructural development across various economic sectors.
The master plan in this regard is also in the final stage. Some of these projects have received final feasibility study reports, and the review work is underway.
The five bridges |
