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an economic corridor with proper land use plan, he added.

RAIL LINE

The government in 2010 had taken up the project to lay metre-gauge track from Dohazari of Chattogram to Ghundum of Bandarban spending Tk 1,852.35 crore.

But it later changed its plan and decided to build the dual-gauge line to Cox’s Bazar town. As a result, the cost shot up to Tk 18,034.47 crore.

The government backed out on constructing the rail line to Ghundum border because Myanmar did not take any step to build a rail line to its border, source said.

The 102km Dohazari-Cox’s Bazar rail line is part of the Trans-Asian Railway Network. There are nine new stations on the route.

Although the project, funded by the Asian Development Bank, was supposed to be completed within June 2013, laying of tracks began in March 2018.

The prime minister will inaugurate the line at a programme at the oyster-shaped railway station near Cox’s Bazar town at 11:00am.

Railways Minister Nurul Islam Sujon yesterday said train services on the Dhaka-Cox’s Bazar route would begin on December 1 with an inter-city train.

DEEP-SEA PORT

The government in March 2020 had taken up the project to build the country’s first deep-sea port in Matarbari aiming to enhance its port logistics capacity to boost export and import.

Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) and Roads and Highways Department (RHD) is jointly implementing the Tk 17,777.20 crore project.

The CPA is building the port while the RHD is constructing the road to connect the port with the national highway. Japan is proving a loan for the project.

Hasina will lay the foundation stone of the port’s first terminal at a programme at the port site at 2:30pm today. The port is likely to be opened by 2026.

Although the construction of the terminal is yet to start, a 14.3-km artificial navigation channel, stretching from the terminal to the sea, has been built.

Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh Limited has built the channel under the Matarbari Ultra Super Critical Coal Fired Power Project. On September 20, it handed over responsibility for the operation of the channel to the CPA.

The PM will also inaugurate the channel today.

According to shipping ministry, the deep-sea port will be a game-changer for Bangladesh economy as it would be able to handle container ships with a capacity of 8000 TEU.

TEU, or a twenty foot equivalent unit, is the standard measure of container capacity on a ship.