India and Bangladesh have agreed to ensure faster implementation of four identified projects in the road communication sector of Bangladesh under the Indian $ 2 billion 2nd Line of Credit (LoC) to boost connectivity, reports UNB. The four projects are procurement of trucks for Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation with LoC value of $ 20.36 million, procurement of double decker and single decker AC and non AC buses for BRTC with LoC value of $ 55.83 m, procurement of equipment and machinery for Roads and Highways with LoC value of $ 59.84 m and Improvement of Ashuganj River Port Sarail-Dharkar-Akhaura Land Port Road as four-lane National Highway with LoC value of $ 283.67 m, said an official at the Economic Relations Division (ERD). The official preferring anonymity said that the both sides also agreed to form a Joint Monitoring Team (JMT) consisting of stakeholders from both sides, including EPC contractors.
The official said that the latest and 10th bilateral review meeting on Indian LoC between India and Bangladesh was held on November 29 in New Delhi last year.
Joint Secretary of the Ministry of External Affairs Ajit Gupte led the Indian side and Additional Secretary of ERD Abul Mansur Md Faizullah led the Bangladesh side.
The meeting also decided that the Joint Monitoring Team would meet on a quarterly basis in Bangladesh to discuss resolution of issues in a speedy manner and it would focus on delayed projects. The JMT may also undertake site visits.
During the meeting, the both sides expressed satisfaction that a total of 15 projects have so far been identified to be covered under the Indian $2 billion Line of Credit.
So far, some 11 project proposals have been received by India from the government of Bangladesh and out of those nine have already been approved by the government of India.
The Indian side informed that the necessary approvals for the remaining two proposals will be conveyed very soon.
The Bangladesh side informed that Detailed Project Reports of two projects are ready and would be forwarded to the government of India soon.
The meeting was also conveyed that the government of Bangladesh has decided to drop the Higher Education and Skill Development in ICT project (with LoC component of $10 million), and a formal communication to this effect will be sent in
due course.
The meeting also decided that the next LoC review meeting will be held in the 2nd half of April 2017.
With the last round of approval of five projects, some nine projects have so far received Indian EXIM Bank's approval where around $ 1596 million would be needed for implementing these projects under the 2nd LoC.
Out of the overall cost of these nine projects, the Indian government would provide $ 1221.54 million while the rest of $ 374.46 million would come from the state exchequer.
Under the Indian 2nd LoC, 14 social and infrastructure development projects in power, railways, road, transportation, ICT, shipping, health and technical education sectors were identified for implementation. The fresh $ 2 billion LoC is the biggest credit line that India has so far extended to any country. The first Line of Credit of $ 1 billion was extended by India to Bangladesh in 2010.
The fresh Indian 2nd credit bears an interest rate of 1 percent with 0.5 per cent commitment fee to be repaid in 20 years with five years' of grace period. Earlier, the MoU on the new LoC was signed on June 6 last year during Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bangladesh visit.