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The Private Infrastructure Committee (PICOM) has included the Dhaka-Chittagong expressway project worth US $ 896 million in its list of prospective projects.
The inclusion, which was made last week at PICOM meeting, will facilitate the communication ministry to forward the project for the approval of the cabinet committee on public purchase, source said.
The ministry that decided to float international tender for bringing transparency in implementation of the project sought the consent of the PICOM last October.
The ministry hopes the construction work of the biggest investment on the communications infrastructure by a foreign consortium will begin next March, the sources added.
Malaysian construction company Azimat Consortium proposed to construct the 270-kilometre expressway on build, operate, own and transfer (BOOT) basis last June.
The company has proposed to transfer the highway to the government after construction and operation for 30 years. It will realise the money through toll collection from vehicles using the expressway.
It has also sought tax holiday period for 10 years from the year of toll collection and duty free import of construction materials.
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The expressway with six lanes, each 12 feet wide, will have facility for plying of all kinds of vehicles including slow moving ones. There will also be entry and exit points at every district headquarters the expressway crosses.
The proposed expressway will be constructed keeping the existing Dhaka-Chittagong Highway intact, and it will be named Dhaka-Chittagong Highway-2.
The new highway will go through Dhaka, Narayanganj, Munshiganj, Chandpur, Laxmipur, Sonagazi, Sitakunda and Hathazari.
The two bridges over the rivers Meghna and Gumti will be widened for facilitating the expressway.
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