1.5 years of the opening of traffic on the Padma Bridge was completed last Tuesday. The operation and maintenance of the country's longest bridge is being done regularly. According to Bangladesh Bridge Authority's account, Tk 142 crore 12 lakh 83 thousand 25 has been spent on operation and maintenance of Padma Bridge since its inauguration till last November 30. This money has been spent on the management of bridge toll collection activities, maintenance of connecting roads and main bridges, and maintenance of river management works.
At the same time, the amount of toll collected from Padma Bridge is Tk 1 thousand 165 crore 13 lakh. However, the Bangladesh Bridge Authority has paid Value Added Tax (VAT) at the rate of 15 percent from this money. A total of Tk 149 crore 96 lakh VAT has been paid from the toll collected since the beginning of traffic on the bridge till November 30.
Currently, the operation and maintenance of Padma Bridge is being done by Korean Expressway Corporation (KEC) and Padma Bridge's construction contractor, China Major Bridge Engineering Company Limited (MBEC), a joint venture. Officials of Bangladesh Bridge Authority said that the two organizations have been given the responsibility of operating and maintaining the Padma Bridge for five years.
Of these, KEC is acting as the lead and the two organizations have shared responsibility for bridge maintenance. Among these, KEC is responsible for service area and link roads, toll collection and management, installation of Intelligent Traffic System (ITS), and traffic safety and management. On the other hand, MBEC is looking after the main bridge (except toll monitoring system and analysis) and river management works. According to Bangladesh Bridge Authority sources, the joint venture of KEC and MBEC will get Tk 693 crore for operating and maintaining the Padma Bridge for five years.
Officials of the Bangladesh Bridge Authority said that the two organizations have been given the responsibility of operating and maintaining the Padma Bridge for five years. After the expiration of their fixed term, the management and maintenance of the Padma Bridge will be done by the bridge authority itself through an independent company.
Bangladesh Bridge Authority has constructed the Padma Bridge with a loan from the government's finance department. Tk 32 thousand 605 crore 52 lakh has been spent on the construction of the bridge. According to the Bangladesh Bridge Authority's loan agreement with the Finance Department, the bridge authority will repay the loan amount in 35 years with 1 percent interest. In the meantime, the company has also paid the installment of about Tk 1000 crore of loan taken from the finance department.
According to the agreement, repayment of the loan has started from the financial year 2022-23 and Bangladesh Bridge Authority will get time till the financial year 2056-57 to repay the loan. According to the loan repayment schedule, all the money will be paid in a total of 140 installments.
The first and second installments of the Padma Bridge loan were paid on April 5. A total of Tk 316 crore 90 lakh 97 thousand 50 was paid that day. On June 19, the third and fourth installments of Tk 316 crore 2 lakh 69 thousand 93 were paid. And on December 18, the fifth and sixth installments of Tk 315 crore 7 lakh 53 thousand 442 were paid. So far, the total amount has been paid Tk 948 crore 1 lakh 19 thousand 585.
Besides, for the detailed design of the bridge, a total SDR loan of Tk 1 crore 74 lakh 53 thousand has been taken from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for 15 years under two loan agreements at 2 percent interest. This loan will be paid in four installments a year in total 60 installments totaling Tk 2 crore 80 lakh 99 thousand 330 SDR with interest and principal.
Manjur Hossain, Secretary of the Bridge Department, said that the maintenance and operation of the Padma Bridge is being done as per the contract with the contractors. He said, initially we got two and a half times more vehicles than what was predicted for traffic on the bridge. So far more than Tk 1000 crore of tolls have been collected. We are also repaying the finance department loan.
ARS
