The Indian government has invited a tender to conduct a feasibility study to set up an inland container port in Narayanganj keeping the Bangladesh government in dark.
On May 10, the Indian External Affairs Ministry posted an advertisement on its website inviting bids for techno-commercial feasibility study for setting up an inland container port at Narayanganj in Bangladesh. According to a Foreign Ministry official, Bangladesh was not aware of the tender before it was found on the Indian External Affairs Ministry’s website.
“We have seen the tender. But, before that we were in complete dark about the project,” he said.
The official also said that the Foreign Ministry had already communicated with the Indian authorities seeking clarifications about the inland container port in Narayanganj.
“On Monday, a letter seeking clarifications was sent to our High Commission in New Delhi for onward transmission to the Indian External Affairs Ministry,” he said.
Besides, Indian High Commission in Dhaka has also been contacted in this regard, he added.
According to the tender notice, Kumudini Welfare Trust of Bengal Ltd (KWTB), Bangladesh, owns approximately 46 acres of land in Narayanganj, on the bank of Sitalakhya River. They have shown interest in establishing an Inland Container Port on this land jointly with an Indian Partner having experience in setting and operating Inland Ports.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) wants to undertake a techno-commercial feasibility study for this proposed project. MEA is therefore, inviting bids for submission of proposals for conducting “Techno-Commercial Feasibility Study for Setting up an Inland Container Port in Narayanganj, Bangladesh”.
The objective of the study is to examine the need and prepare a Techno-Commercial Feasibility Report (TCFR) for setting up an inland container port at Narayanganj, Bangladesh. The project entails traffic study and financial appraisal and preparation of a detailed report to achieve the objective. The last date for submission of the tender is June 6. The project entails traffic study and financial appraisal and preparation of a detailed report to achieve the objective.
The proposed study is to be completed within 14 weeks and it will be completed in phases.
In the first phase, consultants who will conduct the feasibility study will accumulate and analyse the data for six weeks and submit an interim report.
In the next phase, technical plan for the proposed inland container port will be done for the next three weeks and again an interim report will be submitted.
Commercial feasibility will be done in line with the technical plan and data accumulation and another interim report will be produced within the next three weeks.
After completing all the phases, the consultants will get another two weeks to submit the final report, the tender document stipulated.
-With The Independent input
