Padma Bridge earns Tk 800cr in first year

Staff Reporter :
The government earned around Tk800 crore in toll collection from the Padma Multipurpose Bridge in one year since the opening of the bridge to traffic, said the bridge authority.
On average, 15,500 vehicles usethe Padma Bridge per day resulting in toll collections around Tk 20 million daily , Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said during a briefing to commemorate the landmark bridge’s first anniversary on Sunday.

The minister informed that the latest data put the total cost of the bridge at Tk 32.60 billion.
The Bangladesh Bridge Authority will gradually repay the loans taken out from the state treasury to construct the bridge, Quader added.
In four installments

from the bridge’s earnings, the authorities have already paid a total of Tk 6.32 billion to the government. The BBA is required to pay back the loans within 35 years, according to Quader.
Apart from this, the government has undertaken dozens of projects to improve road connectivity with the Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Elevated Expressway to ensure ease of travel to the remaining destinations by crossing the Padma Bridge, according to the Bridge authority.

Under these projects, new roads and bridges are being constructed besides widening the existing roads. Some of these projects have been completed while some are awaiting approval. Sources in the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges said that the cost of the three ongoing projects of the ministry to improve connectivity with the Padma Bridge has been estimated at Tk 69,416 crore.
If the ongoing projects are added, the government is spending at least Tk1.5 lakh crores for the development of Padma Bridge’s connectivity.

According to Planning Commission sources, the Road Transport and Highways Department has sent two separate project proposals at a cost of Tk18,078 crore to upgrade the 129km road from Bhanga to Benapole in Jashore to six lanes on the model of the expressway from Dhaka to Bhanga via Padma Bridge.