2 Sino-Bangla JVs to expand 35km portion

Two China-Bangladesh joint ventures are going to expand a 35-kilometre portion of the Dhaka Sylhet Highway at a cost of Tk 2,318 crore.

The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) is set to sign two separate contracts with the firms for package number-3 at a city hotel today, sources said.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader is expected to join the programme.

A joint venture of Henan Highway Engineering Group Company Ltd of China and Mir Akhter Hossain Ltd of Bangladesh will be awarded a Tk 1,232 crore contract.

Under the deal, the joint venture will expand a 15.7km stretch from Sarail intersection to Budhonti bus stand in Brahmanbaria and build 11 bridges and 11 culverts and carry out other tasks.

A joint venture of China Shandong International Economic and Technical Cooperation Group Ltd and Shandong Luqiao Ground Co Ltd of China and Property Development Ltd of Bangladesh has already been awarded a Tk 1,085 crore. The contract with the firms will be signed today, sources said.

The joint venture will expand a 19.1km road from Budhonti bus stand to SM Spinning Mill in Habiganj's Madhabpur upazila and will build seven bridges, 25 culverts and carry out other related tasks.

The Roads and Highways Department is set to sign two separate contracts with the companies today

The contractors will get four years to complete the work. There will be a one-year defect liability period and then they will provide performance-based maintenance services for six more years.

The RHD is implementing a Tk 16,918-crore project to turn the 210km Dhaka-Sylhet highway into four lanes by adding a service lane on each side.

The Asian Development Bank will provide Tk 13,244 crore, its biggest portfolio in the transport sector in Asia.

The deadline for the project is December 2026. The authorities decided to implement it under six packages and hire 13 contractors for quick execution.

The RHD has already hired contractors—both local and foreign-- for two packages. Physical work started on February 1.

The Dhaka-Sylhet highway connects the Sylhet division with the capital and Chattogram.

The project was undertaken as the existing two-lane highway from Narayanganj's Kanchpur to Sylhet is turning out to be inadequate in dealing with a growing number of vehicles, often leading to traffic congestion and road crashes.

Besides, several economic zones are going to be established centring the highway, which will ultimately accelerate economic growth.

The highway is also a part of the Asian Highway-1, which connects Meghalaya with West Bengal of India via Tamabil-Sylhet-Dhaka-Narail-Jashore.

The government has taken up a separate project to turn the Sylhet-Tamabil Highway into four lanes.