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SANGSAD BHABAN, August 27, 2026 (BSS) – State Minister for Planning Zonayed Abdur Rahim Saki today said metro-rail project will be implemented in a cost-effective manner to avoid excessive spending.

The state minister for planning said this while responding to a query raised by opposition alliance’s ally National Citizen Party (NCP) lawmaker from Noakhali-6 Abdul Hannan Masud at the Jatiya Sangsad here.

Responding to opposition lawmaker’s claim of raising expenditure allocation primarily for metro rail construction, the state minister said the present dollar rate hike is being calculated with the dollar price when the metro rail project was initiated.

The government is evaluating the metro rail project costs and it will be approved after maintaining highest scrutiny about the expenditure by the planning commission.

Highlighting the necessity of the metro rail project, Zonayed Saki said it is unquestionable that the project is very much important for the city transportation system as the transport mode is equally movable through the upper and underground part in the city.

To implement the project, the Prime Minister has already given directives to look into all aspects including expenditure, timeframe and technology transfer of the project and necessary assessment is underway in this regard.

The state minister, however, said the metro-rail project was implemented with the JICA’s financing under the Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project, Line 6 with 0.70% rate of interest for construction, 0.01% for consultancy service, and Front End Fee (at a time) of 0.2% while the loan interest has now been increased to 3 percent by JICA or any other financing agencies.

The cost of MRT Line-5 Northern has been proposed to rise 125.98% to Tk 93,190.96 crore, following a similar proposal to increase the cost of another Japanese-funded metro project, MRT Line-1, by around 130%.

Approved in 2019, MRT-5 Northern was originally estimated to cost Tk 41,238.54 crore. The revision would add Tk 51,952.42 crore to the project cost.

Under the revised proposal, the government-funded portion is set to increase 100%, from Tk 12,121.50 crore to Tk 24,259.72 crore.

The project assistance component is proposed to rise 137%, from Tk 29,117 crore to Tk 68,931.24 crore.

The original project had a target to complete by 2028. Under the new proposal, the project period will run until 2034, including a one-year defect liability period.