Although the initial tender allocated Tk274 crore for the electro-mechanical work on the Motijheel-Kamalapur section of the metro rail, the interim government has agreed to do the work at Tk465 crore after negotiation.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges has claimed that the cost of the project has increased by Tk191 crore due to political instability and the appreciation of the dollar, but, on the contrary, Tk185 crore has been saved.
On Wednesday, Rezaul Karim Siddiqui, Public Relations Officer of the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, made this claim in a press release sent to the media titled โRecent achievements of the interim government in the metro rail: About Tk185 crore for electro-mechanical work on the Motijheel-Kamalapur section.โ
On July 4, a news report titled โMetro rail work starts at a rate 70% higher than the allocationโ was published in the daily Kalbela. The issue of cost increase was highlighted in the published news.
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The Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), the metro rail implementing agency, had allocated Tk274 crore for this sector in the revised development project proposal (RDPP) for the fiscal year 2020-21.
The recently retired project director of MRT Line-6, Md. Zakaria said: โIt was supposed to be done at Tk274 crore according to the 2022 dollar rate. But now it has to be done at Tk465 crore due to the increase in the dollar rate.โ
DMTCL Managing Director Faruk Ahmed sees the price reduction in the negotiation as a success. He said: โWe have been able to convince the contractor to do the work at a price 30-40% lower than what the contractor wanted.โ
The ministryโs press release said: โThe contractor that submitted the tender in June 2018 for the electro-mechanical system work of the Motijheel to Kamalapur section of the metro rail has been recently appointed. Although some questions have recently been raised about the initial cost of this work, the Metrorail Authority has saved a significant amount of money through successful bidding on the instructions of the interim government. The Revised Development Project Proposal (RDPP) (Second Amendment) had allocated Tk274 crore for this sector.
โIn practice, the RDPP allocation of Tk274 crore is an approved expenditure. The actual cost is determined through tender evaluation, which is dependent on inflation, currency exchange rate changes, complexity of raw material supply and transportation costs, etc.โ
The notification further said: โThe proposed price in July 2023 was around Tk650 crore. But the interim government expressed reluctance to get the work done at such a high price. On the instructions of the interim government, the DMTCL authorities adopted a negotiation strategy in this regard and after lengthy discussions and negotiations, both parties agreed to get the work done for Tk465 crore.โ
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