In the first year, the revenue from the Padma Bridge will be Tk 1,430 crore, which will stand at more than taka 90,000 crore in 35 years.
The consulting firm of the Padma Bridge project has made such a prediction by analyzing various aspects.
However, at first the government has to pay VAT from the income. There is also a cost for the toll collector. From then on, the finance ministry will have to repay the loan installments. If there is money after all expenses, it will be considered as the profit of the bridge authority.
The finance ministry bears the expenditure of the Padma Bridge project and the Bridge Division took the fund as loan and will repay it in 35 years at 1 percent interest. In all, the loan amount (interest and in fact) will be repaid in 140 installments. An agreement was signed between the finance ministry and the Bridge Division in 2019 to this end.
After paying the installment in 2029, the bridge division will continue to make profit. By 2050, the profit from the Padma Bridge will be around Tk 900 crore.
According to the prediction, 23,954 vehicles on an average are expected to cross the bridge every day and that will increase gradually. In 2029 it will be 34,725 and 66,829 vehicles will move on Padma Bridge a day in 2050.
The estimated cost of the Padma Bridge project is Tk 301.93 billion (30,193 crore), including a loan rebate of Tk 3 billion (300 crore) by the Japanese government. So the Bridge Division will have to repay the ministry Tk 299 billion (29,900 crore) with 1 percent interest, totalling Tk 364.03 (36,803 crore).
Currently, the government, on an average, annually earns Tk 6 billion (600 crore) from the Bangabandhu Bridge over the Jamuna river. Two thousand vehicles crossed the bridge a day when the bridge was opened to traffic in 1998; now about 24,000 vehicles move on it a day.
Meanwhile, an ICAB article said that 30-40 lakh new entrepreneurs will be created in the next 10 years in those districts. In six districts of Barisal division alone, 500-1000 new factories will be set up in the next 10 years. As a result, taka 10 to 20 thousand crore will be added to the country's economy. The number of tourists from India and Nepal will increase after the launch of this bridge. There will be a revolution in the tourism industry. The bridge will reduce the poverty of the people in the south-west of the country by 1.01 percent. With the availability of education, medical care, electricity and gas, the pressure on Dhaka and other big cities will be reduced.
The article said that 30 million people would directly benefit from the Padma Bridge. Fair prices of agricultural products will be ensured along with production costs will also be reduced. Agro-based industries will develop. This bridge will facilitate the communication of West Bengal with Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and Nepal and Bhutan. As a result, they will use the bridge as an economic corridor to earn foreign exchange.
The article further states that the value of the land that has been protected by the two banks of the river is about taka 1,400 crore. Electricity, gas and internet lines through the bridge will save Tk 2,400 crore. As there is no ferry service, the cost will be saved by Tk 3,600 crore.
