News Desk :
The government has approved a proposal for appointing the joint venture (JV) of Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC) and the China Major Bridge Engineering Company Ltd (MBEC) for providing maintenance and realising toll at the Padma Multipurpose Bridge for the next five years.
It means that the joint venture will receive Tk 11.55 crore a month on an average for realising toll.
The approval came from the 12th meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) held on Thursday virtually with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair, reports UNB.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, the Finance Minister expressed the hope that it would be possible to fetch more money through toll from the vehicles which will be plying on the bridge. More new bridges will be built from the additional money which will come from toll, he said.
The construction work of 6.1km long Padma Bridge is now at the final stage. It has been built spending Tk 31,000 crore. Though Padma Bridge was scheduled to be opened for traffic in June, the opening has been deferred to December because of various reasons.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said in Jatiya Sangsad that the Padma Bridge would be opened to traffic in December.
Joining the briefing virtually, Cabinet Division additional secretary Md Zillur Rahman Chowdhury said following a proposal from the Bridges Division, the Korean and Chinese joint venture would act as the service provider/operator for the Padma Bridge for the next five years at a cost of Tk 692.92 crore.
