A revised proposal by the Road Transport and Highway Division for the under-construction four-lane Dhaka-Chittagong highway has raised the project cost by 36.14% due to additional work under Project Package Number 7, official sources said.
The project package will now cost Tk169.75 crore to construct around 20km of the highway stretching from Mohipal Bazar to Dhughat Bridge.
According to the proposal, signed by Road Transport and Highways Division Secretary MAN Siddique, the extra cost is a result of revision in the structural design, pavement design and other repair work of the highway.
The proposal is likely to be placed today at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase, to be presided over by Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
As per the agreement with Reza Construction Limited, contractor for the project, the cost of Project Package Number 7 was earlier set at Tk 124.69 crore, sources at the division said.
The project work has been going on for the past eight years, and in early 2014, the government listed it as a fast-track development project.
Speaking at an event a few months ago, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said despite being a priority one, this project has faced tender cancellations twice and changes of project director 11 times.
During a visit to an overpass at Paduar Bazar in Comilla on February 20, the minister said the project would be finished by June and vehicular movement would start in December.
