DHAKA, Dec 1, 2025 (BSS) – Bangladesh and Germany signed two separate loan agreements for a total of 160 million euro for a project titled “Climate Change Adapted Drinking Water Resources Management Dhaka II (Saidabad WTP Phase III)” at the Economic Relations Division today.  

The two countries inked the ‘Loan Agreement’ for an additional 70 million euro to the main loan, and an ‘Amendment Agreement’ to the main loan of 90 million euro, according to a press release.  

 ERD Secretary Md. Shahriar Kader Siddiky while  Carla Berke, Head of Division, Urban Development, South Asia, KfW Frankfurt and Stefanie Klappenbach, Principal Portfolio Manager, Urban Development, South Asia, KfW Frankfurt of Germany signed the agreements on behalf of their respective governments.

The main objective of the project is to establish an environmentally friendly, sustainable, and people-friendly water supply system and to reduce dependency on groundwater by ensuring the efficient use of surface water. 

The project is being implemented by Dhaka WASA under the Local Government Division. The RDPP of the project was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on 23 March 2025. 

The total estimated cost of the project is Taka 16,014.83 crore, of which the government of Bangladesh will contribute Taka 4,536.17 crore, project loan amounts to Taka 11,448.66 crore, and the implementing agency will contribute Taka 30.00 crore from its own funds. The project implementation period is from 1 July 2015 to 30 June 2029. 

Under the ‘Loan Agreement’, KfW Development Bank will provide Bangladesh with an additional 70.00 million euro (approximately Taka 988 crore). 

The financing will be used to construct a raw water intake and raw water pumping station on the Meghna River at Haria, build approximately 26 km of raw water transmission pipeline with an estimated diameter of 2,200 mm, and expand and upgrade approximately 54 km of the primary distribution network for supplying treated water.

Due to the additional 70 million euro financing for the project, the Disbursement Period of the original 90 million euro loan has been revised from 27 June 2024 to 31 December 2026, and the total financing amount has changed accordingly. As a result, the ‘Amendment Agreement’ has been signed. 

The government of Germany has been a long-standing development partner of Bangladesh. Since 1972, the total commitments of the German government in financial and technical cooperation amount to approximately 4.00 billion euro. 

At present, KfW Development Bank is financing 13 projects in Bangladesh, including 647.50 million euro in loans and 170.00 euro million in grants.