Malaysian co keen to invest Tk 1,100cr to improve three roads

A Malaysian private company has expressed its interest to invest in both railway and transport sectors in Bangladesh.
Representatives of Gunung Capital, Malaysian property investor and travel and tour company, yesterday met Railway Minister Suranjit Sengupta and Communications Minister Obaidul Quader and expressed their interest.
The eight-member delegation of Gunung Capital headed by its Chairman Dato Syed Abu Hussain is visiting Bangladesh to explore the scope for investment in transport sector.
At a meeting with Quader at his office, the company showed interest to improve three roads at an estimated cost of around Tk 1,100 crore, meeting sources say.
The roads are 49-kilometer Madanpur-Bhulta-Joydebpur of Dhaka bypass road, 23km Demra-Tongi of Dhaka eastern bypass road and 18km Boliapur-Ruhitpur-Bourovita of Dhaka western bypass road.
Of the budget, about Tk 600 crore will be spent for upgrading the two-lane Madanpur-Bhulta-Joydebpur road into four lanes, Tk 276 crore for widening the narrow Demra-Tongi road into two lanes and Tk 216 crore for upgrading the Boliapur-Ruhitpur-Bourovita road into four lanes.
Another delegation of the company is expected to visit Bangladesh next week to discuss modality of its investment, says a press release of the ministry.
The meeting discussed both build-own-operate-transfer (BOOT) and public-private-partnership (PPP) options in this regard.
The delegation, at their meeting with Suranjit at Railway Bhaban, proposed to run commuter trains on Dhaka-Sylhet route.
"They proposed for running at least one commuter train on the route. I welcomed their intention, but asked them to come with concrete proposal in this regard," Suranjit told reporters after the meeting.
"We will scrutinise the proposal and then take a decision," he added.
Asked whether they have experience in railway, the chairman of the Malaysian company said, "We have vast experience in land-based transport service which we can use in the railway sector too."
The Malaysian delegation also met Finance Minister AMA Muhith last week and expressed their intention to invest in Bangladesh.