Bid withdrawn due to financial crisis: Metrorail Line-5 flyover section work not underway

❐ BD Digest Desk

The proposal to award the construction of the overhead section of the Metrorail Line-5 (Northern Route) project, which is being implemented to ease traffic congestion in the capital and develop a modern public transport system, to three Chinese companies has been withdrawn from a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Procurement.

This decision was taken due to insufficient funding being allocated in the Development Project Proposal (DPP).

The proposal was included in the agenda of the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Procurement held at the Secretariat on Wednesday, July 29, under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury.

However, the Road Transport and Highways Department withdrew the proposal before the meeting could discuss it.

Sources involved in the meeting said that the cost of constructing the flying section of the project, which is being implemented with joint funding from the Bangladesh government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), has been estimated at Tk 2,671 crore.

Although the Cabinet Committee on Government Procurement was supposed to be asked for approval in this regard, it was ultimately not presented.

Regarding the reason for the withdrawal of the proposal, a member present at the meeting said that there was no technical or procedural flaw in the proposal. The main problem is that the current DPP does not have the necessary financial resources to implement the project. The proposal has been withdrawn for the time being due to lack of funds.

He further said that no decision has been taken yet on whether the proposal will be re-raised in the future if funding is secured and the situation improves. The matter will be decided later, taking into account the government’s financial capacity and the progress of the project.