NORINCO International Cooperation Ltd, a state-owned listed corporation in China, has proposed to implement Line number 4 of the New Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) in Dhaka.

In a letter sent to the Secretary Road Transport and Highway Division on May 6, NORINCO International Cooperation has expressed keen interest in undertaking the complete new MRT line no. 4 in Dhaka on turn-key basis. The Chinese company, however, did not mention the details of finance for the project in their communique. “We are looking forward to signing the MOU with you and negotiating the details as early as possible,” it said.

The route for the proposed line will start from Uttara and go up to Sayedabad via Airport entrance, Airport south, Khilkhet, Army stadium, Banani, Gulshan, Mohakhali, Tejgaon, Mogbazar, Khilgaon, Kamalapur, Sayedabad and connect with MRT Line 6 at Bangobazar area.

Deputy Secretary of Economic Relation Division (ERD) Asia wing Dr AKM Matiur Rahman said that a proposal came from a Chinese company regarding the project. “If the concerned ministry accepts the proposal, then ERD will take the initiative to negotiate with NORINCO International,” he said.

NORINCO’s proposal claims it is a top level engineering contractor with advantages of system integration. NORINCO has established extensive economic and technical cooperation with many countries and regions in the world, it said.

Projects listed listed by them in their proposal include rail transportation cover railway, metro and supply of complete-set equipment such as rolling stocks in Iran, Pakistan and Ethiopia on EPC Turn-key Basis (including complete financing), additional works for which is still on-going and the ultimate cost of the project shall exceed a few billion US dollars.

“Having studied the DTCA’s (Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority) published ‘Strategic Transport Plan’ for Dhaka, we shall be confident to find a best solution for MRT Line No. 4 in Dhaka which is planned to serve the central corridor and is based on use of the existing railway corridor,” it said.

Since the capacity of the MRT Line No. 4 can satisfy the total passenger traffic demand on this corridor, once it is opened, the planed BRT Line No.3 on the upper sections of the Airport Road can be cancelled, and consequently the Airport road corridor can be released for highway usage where the traffic demand is shown to be high.

“Thus, this line is deemed to be highly feasible, which will be further verified by our own feasibility study prior to actual construction,” NORINCO wrote.

Financing for the MRT Line no. 6 is being done by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the soil testing work has been completed. The metro rail is expected to be completed by 2019.

Of the total project cost of Tk 21985.07 crore, JICA will provide TK 16594.59 crore while the government will bear Tk 5390.48 crore.

The Metro Rail Bill, 2015, was passed in Parliament on January 26 last year.

A public limited company, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL), will operate the Metro Rail while the DMTCL will be supervised by the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority.

The proposed route of the MRT Line-6 is Uttara 3rd Phase to Bangladesh Bank via Pallabi-Rokeya Sarani-Khamarbari-Farmgate-Hotel Sonargaon-Shahbagh-TSC-Doel Chattar and Topkhana Road.

There will be 16 metro rail stations under the project. The stations are Uttara (North), Uttara (Centre), Uttara (South), Pallabi, IMT, Mirpur 10, Kazipara, Taltala, Agargaon, Bijoy Sarani, Farmgate, Sonargaon, National Museum, Doel Chattar, Bangabandhu National Stadium and Bangladesh Bank.