Finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed on Wednesday said that they would not suspend any project being implemented with the line of credits from India.
鈥楤ut we will review some of the LoC projects stuck in the implementation rate of zero to one,鈥� said the finance adviser while responding to a question whether the interim government would suspend any projects.
鈥楩or now, we have no intension to close down any project,鈥� he said, referring to an expert-level meeting between Bangladesh and India, held at the Economic Relations Division in the capital鈥檚 Agargoan area on the same day.
The finance adviser was talking to reporters after a meeting of the advisory council on the government purchases at the secretariat in the capital Dhaka.
Cancellation of any bilateral deals is very sensitive, he added.
Over the past 15 years under the Awami League regime which was ousted on August 5 past year in a mass uprising, New Delhi has offered $7.3 billion loans under three LoCs.
But only $1.4 billion was released till the 2021-22 financial year. At least 33 projects have been implemented under the LoCs.
It has been reported that conditions like limited tendering for selecting Indian contractors only and mandatory outsourcing of 75 per cent products from India caused delay in the implementation of many projects.
ERD officials said that they discussed LoC projects with low implementation rate at the review meeting with Indian officials.
The projects include the construction of the dual gauge railway line from Bogura to Sirajganj, the Khulna-Darsana rail line, the dual gauge line from Parbatipur to Kaunia section, the construction of the third and fourth dual gauge rail line tracks between Dhaka-Tongi and Tongi-Joydebpur, the Kulaura-Shahbazpur railway line, the power evacuation components of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project and the bay container terminal project.
A senior ERD official said that the review meeting would conclude today.
The official said they would submit a position paper on the review meeting to the government to decide the fate of the projects with low implementation rate.
Observing that the implementation delay should not be a ground for closing down any projects, Salehuddin said that the projects funded with overseas loans were not limited to financial issues.
Bilateral relations are also connected to those projects, he said, adding that the cancellation of bilateral deals were very sensitive.
Earlier, the finance adviser asked India to expedite the disbursement of loans for the implementation of projects under LoCs in the country.
He made the call when Indian high commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma paid a courtesy call on the finance adviser at the secretariat in Dhaka in September 2024.
The finance adviser also wanted New Delhi to remove barriers hampering the disbursement of credits to the LoC projects.
