The Dhaka Bypass road project that the government is implementing will improve connectivity between the country’s north and northwest parts, accelerating commercial activities and spurring economic growth.
The road under the project titled ‘Support to Joydebpur-Devgram-Bhulta-Madanpur Road (Dhaka Bypass)’ will be upgraded to four lanes under PPP basis.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges has sent a proposal to the Planning Commission with necessary changes to the project.
Sources said the project implementation deadline has been extended by four years to June 2024 and the project cost has been increased by Tk 438.23 crore to Tk 674.73 crore. Initially the cost was estimated at Tk 236.50 crore.
An official of the Planning Commission said the verification of the amendment proposal of the project has already been completed.
It will be presented at the next meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), he added.
Mamun-al-Rashid, member (secretary) of the Physical Infrastructure Division of the Planning Commission in charge of the project, said, “If the PPP project is implemented, access control of National Highway N-Four (Dhaka-Tangail) and National Highway N-One (Dhaka-Chattogram) will be controlled.”
The road will also connect Chattogram port with Nepal and Bhutan as part of the South Asia Subregional Economic Co-operation Corridor, he added.
The project will also establish a safe, improved and cost-effective road connectivity system that will accelerate the country's overall trade and commerce and help achieve economic growth, he mentioned.
According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, the proposal to implement the Joydebpur-Begram-Bhulta-Madanpur (Dhaka-Bypass) four-lane project on PPP basis under ‘Build on Operate and Transfer’ system under PPP was approved by the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on 11 September 2012.
Under the project, a public-private partnership (PPP) agreement was signed between SRBG-Cell UDC Consortium and the Department of Roads and Highways on December 6, 2018 for the construction, maintenance and operation of the road.
The reason for the revision of the project is to increase the amount and cost of the existing part. Acquisition of more than 5.22 hectares of land and an increase of Tk 401.30 crore in this sector.
An additional Tk 1.39 crore has been increased in the consultancy sector and Tk 2.25 crore for rehabilitation.
Inter-ministerial land transfer of 113.63 hectares and in this sector, 3 crore has been proposed. 15 lakh has been proposed for the internal travel expenses.
Private investors formed ‘Dhaka Bypass Expressway Development Company Limited’ on March 20, 2019. This project was undertaken as a supporting project of this PPP project. The main project was approved by ECNEC on March 1, 2016 for implementation from March 2017 to June 2020 at an estimated cost of Tk 236.50 crore.
The first revised project proposal has been sent to the Planning Commission for implementation from March 2016 to June 2024.
