The South Asian rail transit project has undergone sudden changes, and Bangladesh has temporarily withdrawn the proposal for awarding the subway project, which is not due to a qualification issue of the enterprise, and insufficient budget has become the main obstacle. After the adjustment of the funding plan is completed, the bidding approval is expected to restart, which will also provide reference for enterprises participating in overseas rail transit construction.

Withdrawal of award proposal

According to local media reports, the Bangladesh Road Transport and Highways Authority has withdrawn the proposal to award the elevated section of Dhaka Metro Line 5 North Line to the China Enterprise Alliance. The relevant departments have confirmed that there are no substantive defects in the proposal, and the delay in approval is due to insufficient funding arrangements. The bidding process and the qualifications of the bidding enterprises are not problematic.

This line is jointly financed by the Meng government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, and the section includes approximately 6.5 kilometers of elevated lines and 5 elevated stations. Chinese enterprises formed a bidding consortium with local enterprises, offering a price of 22.857 billion taka excluding tax. After tax calculation, the contract amount is approximately 26.71 billion taka, slightly higher than the initial estimate. The original budget of the project was only 18.909 billion taka, with a funding gap of nearly 7.8 billion taka. Meng plans to revise the plan and increase the budget for the section to 31.742 billion taka.

Bidding and Project Overview

This bidding process was carried out in accordance with procurement regulations and was recognized by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. 24 entities have purchased pre-approval documents, 6 have submitted applications, 4 have passed the pre-approval process, and 3 have entered the final bidding stage. The evaluation committee and the board of directors of Dhaka Metro have both approved the procurement proposal. Keywords: Dhaka Metro, Overseas Infrastructure

The North Line of Dhaka Metro Line 5 was approved in 2019, with a total investment of approximately 412.385 billion taka. The Bangladeshi side raised 121.2 billion taka on its own, and the remaining funds came from Japanese loans. The total length of the line is 20 kilometers, with 14 stations, and it is planned to be completed in December 2028. After the completion of the project, it will alleviate the traffic pressure in the capital and improve the urban rail transit framework of Dhaka. The market continues to follow up on the progress of Meng's budget revision and is waiting for the resubmission of the award proposal.Editor/Min Jing