Elevated Expressway work is more than halfway complete, yet proposal to increase cost by Tk 10,000 crore

Staff Correspondent

The physical progress of the Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway project has reached 58 percent. At this stage, the implementing agency, Bangladesh Bridge Authority, has proposed to increase the cost of the project by Tk 9,680 crore.

If the proposal is approved, the total cost of the project will be Tk 27,233 crore, which is 55 percent more than the original approved cost of Tk 16,901 crore.

The project authorities cited the increase in the cost as a result of the appreciation of the dollar, design changes, additional land acquisition, and VAT increase. At the time of approval in 2017, the value of the dollar was estimated at 86 taka, but currently it is around 122 taka. It has been stated that an additional 3,730 crore taka will be required.

Due to delays in executing the loan agreement, the project period was previously extended from 2022 to 2026. This time, for the second time, a proposal has been made to extend the period to June 2028 in the revision. At the same time, demands for cost increase have been raised due to the addition of new ramps, Metrorail Line-1 connection, ramps of the airport’s third terminal, and trumpet interchange of the bipile grade separator.

The Planning Commission said the PEC (Project Evaluation Committee) is evaluating the proposal to increase the cost. The proposal will be reviewed in a meeting to be held tomorrow.

Project Director Md. Shafiqul Islam declined to comment on the cost increase. He said the proposal has not yet reached the approval stage and the government will make a decision after evaluation.

Communication infrastructure expert Professor Dr. Shamsul Haque believes that the proposal to increase the cost by a large amount midway through calls into question the initial study of the project. According to him, showing low costs at the beginning and increasing them later is a long-standing ‘old culture’ in the country, which has been repeated here too.

The 24-kilometer flyover will start from the airport area and go through Ashulia-Savar to Bypile EPZ. The bridge authorities believe that this project, which is under construction with 16 ramps, will connect with various national highways including Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Mymensingh.

The physical progress of the project as of December 31, 2025 stands at 58.50 percent.