TUHIN SHUBHRA ADHIKARY

RZD International, a subsidiary of Russian Railways, has expressed interest to finance three proposed railway projects, including the much-talked-about high-speed rail line on the Dhaka-Chattogram corridor.

The company wants to finance and construct the project as well as those entailing the construction of the Panchagar-Banglabandha rail line and conversion of the Tongi-Bhairab Bazar-Akhaura track into a broad-gauge double line.

The offer was made on Tuesday by the Russian company’s local representatives, who met with officials of the railways ministry and Bangladesh Railway at the capital’s Rail Bhaban, officials involved with the proceedings told The Daily Star yesterday.

RZD International was advised to come through the Economic Relations Division, which deals with foreign investment-related projects.

The development comes after BR sought Russian funding for five railway projects and placed a formal proposal at the third meeting of the Bangladesh-Russia Intergovernmental Commission on Trade, Scientific, Economic and Technical Cooperation (BR-IGC) held in December last year.

However, the high-speed rail is the only project that exists in both the BR and the company’s proposals.

If the deal goes through, it would be Russia’s first investment in Bangladesh’s railways sector. At present, Russia is funding the Rooppur nuclear power plant project.

RUSSIAN PROPOSAL

RZD International’s first approach to BR was made in March last year and its local representatives held several meetings over the issue and settled on the three projects.

And last month, Vladimir A Finov, the head of RZD International’s representative office in India, wrote a letter to Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujan.

Meinhardt Singapore and MGI Capital, the transaction advisory wing of Meinhardt Group, will work as RZD’s associates in implementing the projects, according to the letter.

THREE PROJECTS

BR has already completed the feasibility study and detailed design of the high-speed railway project.

The estimated cost of the 224.64-kilometre-long rail route is $11.1 billion (Tk 93,350.9 crore).

However, Sujan last year said the government would go slow in implementing the project as it would require huge investment.

BR is now carrying out the feasibility study for constructing a 48-km road between Panchagarh and Banglabandha Land Port, expected to boost regional connectivity.

As per the draft study report, the cost of the project would be about Tk 3,200 crore, sources said.

The existing line from Tongi via Bhairab to Akhaura is a metre-gauge double line and BR has already carried out a feasibility study to turn it into a dual-gauge line aiming to increase the capacity of the Dhaka-Chattogram rail corridor.

BR’s Director-General Dhirendra Nath Mazumder could not be reached over the phone, while Habibur Rahman, additional secretary of railways ministry, who led the ministry in absence of rail secretary at the meeting, declined to comment on the matter.