Over a dozen Chinese investment proposals in Bangladesh’s power, railway, and infrastructure sectors are waiting the government’s decision.
Published : 03 Jun 2015, 07:47 PM
Besides official proposals from China, one of the world’s major economic powers, a number of the country’s state-run companies, too, have expressed eagerness to invest.
ERD’s Additional Secretary Asif Uz Zaman told bdnews24.com, “China is giving Bangladesh one proposals one after another. The Prime Minister’s Office and the finance minister will jointly decide on them.”
On May 20, one such proposal from the ‘China Airport Construction Group Corporation’ was sent directly to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
A copy of the proposal collected by bdnews24.com shows the Chinese company pitching for the modernisation job of Dhaka’s Shahjalal International Airport and the construction of its third terminal.
The proposal says Bangladesh’s plan to modernise the airport and build new international and domestic terminals along with a cargo village would cost around $1.3 billion.
The company also said it could, if Bangladesh wanted, negotiate credit on easy terms from the Chinese government and gave a three-year time frame for the completion of the project.
China Energy Engineering Group Company Limited (GPEC) is another Chinese firm vying for projects.
A senior official of the power ministry told bdnews24.com about receiving a proposal on Apr 21. The company wants to build three 3,000 MW plants – two of them coal-run and the third fuelled by natural gas.
This company, too, hoped to arrange low-interest credit on the basis of discussions between the two governments.
State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid Bipu told bdnews24.com, “I haven’t seen the proposal yet. Such important matters are discussed in ministerial meetings. We might discuss the Chinese proposal in the next one.”
A copy of the proposal has also been sent to the finance ministry, Economic Relations Department (ERD), to the Prime Minister’s power and energy affairs adviser, and her principal secretary, besides the power, energy and natural resources ministry.
The Chinese company has proposed a coal-based power plant in Dinajpur’s Parbatipur. The 1,320 mega-watt plant will comprise two units of the same capacity.
The location could change if the government wanted, GPEC said. It proposed another power plant in Barguna, with two units of 660 MW each.
The third project, proposed in Meghnaghat or Khulna, will be gas-based and produce 750 to 850 MW of electricity.
At present, GPEC is constructing a 330 MW plant in Shahjibazar. In 2012, it built two 100 MW power plants at Hathazari and Dohazari.
China floated another proposal in February this year.
Charge d'Affaires of the Chinese embassy in Dhaka Qu Guangzhou proposed a credit line amounting $15 to $20 billion dollars to develop the railway.
The proposal was tabled in a meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office. A five-member committee, headed by the railway ministry’s Additional Secretary, Shashi Kumar Singha, was asked to evaluate it.
The committee is yet to reach a conclusion.
At present, Chinese companies have several big development projects going in the country.
China Major Bridge Engineering Company Limited has been assigned the construction of the main structure of the Padma Bridge, while Sinohydro Corporation is taking care of river management.
The government has inked a memorandum of understanding with China Communication Construction Company to construct the first-ever tunnel under the Karnaphuli River.
The project will cost $ 1.1 billion.
China has long been expressing its interest in a deep-sea port at Patuakhali’s Payra.
Various Chinese companies are also keen to construct a ‘high-speed’ railway on the Dhaka-Chittagong route, an elevated expressway between Dhaka andAshulia, and a Chinese economic and industrial zone and the second unit of Eastern Refinery, both in Chittagong.