Govt wants to make money from Padma Bridge: Finance minister

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said that the government wants to make profit from the Padma Multipurpose Bridge project to spend the surplus revenue on other development projects.

“The government will not only recover the cost of the bridge construction but also make profit from Padma Bridge tolls,” Kamal said on Thursday after attending a virtual cabinet committee meeting on public purchase.

“We want to make one thing clear. We will fully recover the amount that we have spent on the Padma Bridge,” he said.

He said such projects are done across the world to make profits.

“Otherwise we can’t go ahead. Because we have to maintain the bridge. We have to go from one project to another. You have to go from one bridge to another. So, revenue will be needed to do these things,” Kamal said.

He said the profit will not go to the exchequer but will be used to develop some other projects.

The minister said physical work of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge will be completed by June if things go right.

He said Padma Bridge will be opened to traffic at the end of the current fiscal year. The minister said if that does not happen, the bridge will be opened to vehicular movement in this calendar year.

“Some raw materials of Padma bridge were supposed to arrive in the country in March but it did happen. Therefore, the inauguration of the bridge may be delayed,” finance minister told journalists on Thursday after a cabinet committee meeting on economic affairs.

He said maintaining a schedule for completing activities has been difficult due to the ongoing Ukraine war.

“If no one failed to maintain their commitment over any development project, the government could have completed Padma bridge within the stipulated time. Yet we are hopeful,” Kamal said.

He said the toll rate for using the bridge by various modes of transport have not been worked out yet.

Appointment of Padma bridge toll plaza operator:

The cabinet committee on public purchase awarded Korean and Chinese joint venture firms to operate the toll plaza of the Padma Bridge and maintain it.

A virtual cabinet meeting on Thursday approved the Bangladesh Bridge Authority proposal to appoint the toll plaza operator of the mega project. The meeting was presided over by Finance minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

According to the bridge authority proposal, the work of operating the toll plaza and carrying out maintenance has been awarded to a joint venture of Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC) and China Major Bridge Engineering Co Limited (MBEC).

The lease of the service will be for a period of 5 years at a cost of Tk 692.92 crore.

Bridges Division secretary Monjur Hossain told the journalists that the Korean firm has secured the job of operating the Padma Bridge toll plaza while the maintenance will be done by China Major Bridge Engineering Co Limited.