China Eximbank agrees -- at least in principle -- to provide $500 million loan for Rajshahi Surface Water Treatment Plant Project

In 2014, China Eximbank agreed -- at least in principle -- to provide a $500 million loan to the Government of Bangladesh to build the Rajshahi Surface Water Treatment Plant. The project aims to provide 200 million litre of surface water every day. Besides, the plant will supply water to all of the areas of the region by 2035. In January 2015, China Eximbank requested that Bangladesh expedite the commercial contract signing process of the project could commence. The Executive Committee for the National Economic Council (ECNEC) finally approved the project in October 2018. A report in 2020 indicated that the Bangladeshi authorities submitted a request for a $276.25 million loan to the Chinese authorities. The Chinese embassy replied that the authorities were evaluating the loan. Then, on March 21, 2021, the Hunan Construction Engineering Group Ltd. (HNCEG) in China and the Rajshahi Water Supply & Sewerage Authority (Rajshahi WASA) in Bangladesh formally signed a commercial contract for the Rajshahi WASA Surface Water Treatment Plant Project. The EPC contract value of the project is $325 million. The main construction content is the water intake, water treatment plant, double ductile iron pipe water mains, booster pump station and primary and secondary water distribution network. The project construction period is 48 months.

Additional details

1. The Chinese name for the project is 拉杰沙希地表水处理厂项目. 2. As of March 2023, there was no clear evidence that a loan agreement with China Eximbank had been finalized.

Number of official sources

6

Number of total sources

15