Chinese company asked to construct Padma Bridge

[eastwatch]

Chinese company asked to construct Padma bridge -
bdnews24.com

Chinese company asked to construct Padma bridge
Staff Correspondent, bdnews24.com

Published: 2014-05-22 17:42:18.0 BdST Updated: 2014-05-22 18:24:42.0 BdST

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The government has asked a Chinese company to construct the core structure of the Padma bridge, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has said.

China Major Bridge Engineering Co Ltd got the nod at the meeting of the cabinet committee on government purchase on Thursday.

Muhith said the bridge, which will link 21 southern districts with capital Dhaka, will be completed in four years.

Once commissioned, it will boost Bangladesh’s economy by as much as 1.2 percent, the government claims.

The bridge was initially estimated to cost Tk 91.72 billion in 2011 but the spending rose to Tk 138.85 billion after the final tenders were invited on June 26 last year.

A summary prepared by the Bridges Division says the Chinese firm quoted 12.62 percent less than the estimated cost.

The finance minister said an agreement would be signed with the company in June after the prime minister’s approval.

“The construction will start in October-November and will end in four years,” he said.

The Chinese company has constructed the 36 km Hangzhou Bay Bridge, the longest sea-crossing bridge in the world.

According to the summary, 25.6 percent of the contract value will be paid in local currency and the rest in foreign exchange.

Out of four companies that had purchased tender documents last year, only the Chinese company came up with the financial proposal on the last day fixed for the submission of proposals.

The Padma bridge was one of the key electoral pledges of the previous Awami League government. However, the project failed to take off in five years.

The World Bank halted its $1.2 billion loan for the $2.9 billion project, raising corruption allegation. The government rejected the claims outright but began a probe.

After a prolonged impasse, the government finally decided to go ahead with the project with domestic funding.

Tk 81 billion has been earmarked for the project in the next Annual Development Programme (ADP).

“The Chinese company will give a 100-year guarantee for the bridge,” Muhith said.

 

[idune]

Padma bridge cost up by Tk3,000cr
The Communication Ministry had made the decision as the Bridges Division had not entertained the request of the Korean firms

A Chinese firm is set to get the contract for constructing the Padma bridge with the project cost having increased by Tk3,000 crore following three years’ delay and complexity in the tender process.

Bridges Division Secretary Khandokar Anwarul Islam yesterday sent the proposal to the Cabinet Division for appointing the China Major Bridge Engineering Co Ltd as the construction consultant.

The proposal will be placed today at a meeting of the cabinet committee on public purchase presided over by Finance Minister AMA Muhith, an official of the Cabinet Division said.

The proposal says the Communication Ministry did not entertain the request placed by the joint venture of two South Korean firms – the Samsung C&T Corporation and the DAELIM-Larsen and Toubro Limited – for extending the time of its financial offer by 10 and 12 weeks.

On May 11, 2010, the government floated the first tender for appointing the constructor of the Padma bridge in 2011. At that time, the project cost was Tk9,127.17 crore.

However, the tender process was suspended in August 2011 following allegations of corruption conspiracy raised by the World Bank.

The final tender was floated on June 26 last year and the China Major Bridge submitted its main financial offer on April 24 this year. The Bridges Division proposal says the Chinese company offered to build the Padma bridge at a cost of Tk12,133.39 crore – an increase of Tk3,006.22 crore from earlier.Padma Bridge Project Director M Shafiqul Islam said the increase was normal because of the delay and re-tendering.“But China Major Bridge has offered 12.62% [Tk1,752 crore] less cost than the estimated Tk13,885.85 crore as mentioned in the tender,” he said.

Economist AB Mirza Azizul Islam yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune that the main tender of the Padma bridge would have been competitive and the construction cost of the Padma bridge would have been lower if the two South Korean firms had participated.

He said the Communication Ministry had made the decision as the Bridges Division had not entertained the request of the Korean firms.

Mentioning that the upgrading work of the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway to a four-lane one by a Chinese firm was yet to finish in around four years, the former adviser to a caretaker government said Chinese companies had a bad reputation in the field.

- See more at: Padma bridge cost up by Tk3,000cr | Dhaka Tribune

 

[kalu_miah]

Larsen & Toubro is an Indian company:
Larsen & Toubro - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I think it is a good decision to give the contract to China. I support Bangladesh getting closer to China and having more business relationship with China, regardless of which party does it.

 

[sherin616]

Now to stupid nationlist BD
India dont care bd internal matters if we does we should have made pressure to dump this project

 

[eastwatch]

Padma bridge cost up by Tk3,000cr

]

 

[eastwatch]

In this forum I am not affiliated with any of the stupid political parties of Bangladesh. I do not care if the cat is black or white if it can catch mouse. I congratulate the govt. of Bangladesh for allowing a Chinese company to do the construction while keeping another big neighbor happy with a few small projects. Good diplomacy when considered that the process of selecting a Chinese Contractor took place when the big Bandhustan was busy with its general election.

 

[Saiful Islam]

@eastwatch Hello ghost, where have you been?

 

[UKBengali]

It is interesting that BD intends to use it's own funding to complete the bridge now. With an estimated cost of around 2.5 billion dollars now, of which just under 2 billion will come from foreign currency reserves, we can see that BD now has the fiscal capital to start constructing huge projects with it's own money. Hopefully by next decade, BD is completely self-sufficient to use it's own money for infrastructure projects,

 

[idune]

In this forum I am not affiliated with any of the stupid political parties of Bangladesh.

And sun rises from west and that is what you want people believe.

I congratulate the govt. of Bangladesh .

Good to know your gratitude towards illegitimate and illegal genocidal regime backed by india and operate by Awami League.

for allowing a Chinese company to do the construction while keeping another big neighbor happy with a few small projects. Good diplomacy when considered that the process of selecting a Chinese Contractor took place when the big Bandhustan was busy with its general election

First of all, india does not want to spend that kind of fund in Padma bridge project.

But more importantly, you banding "contract to Chinese company" as some sort of non india subservient act of Awami League, is sheer deception in epic proportion. Yet you want people to believe you are not paddling Awami agenda. To remind people that it was you attacking and badmouthing anyone who posted report on india and RAW interference in Bangladesh. Now you are just trying to dress up your ZERO credibility in typical Awami style - with more deception.