High Court halts New Mooring terminal contract; Ashuganj project moves ahead

The High Court has ordered a temporary suspension of all activities related to the Chattogram Port New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) contract until a pending writ petition challenging the project is resolved.

The petition, filed by Mirza Walid Hossain, president of the Bangladesh Young Economists Forum, questions the legality of awarding the NCT contract to a foreign company. Respondents include the Shipping Secretary, the Chattogram Port Authority Chairman, and the PPP Authority CEO.

The verbal order was issued today (20 November) by a bench led by Justice Fatema Nuzib, with the state assuring the court that all operations would remain halted. Senior lawyers representing the petitioners included Zainul Abedin, Ahsanul Karim, Mahbub Uddin Khokon, and Kaiser Kamal, while Attorney General Md Asaduzzaman appeared for the state. Confirming the order, Adv Ahsanul Karim said the court expressed dissatisfaction with the government advancing the contract while the writ petition is under review. The next hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

"The court noted that earlier assurances were given by the Attorney General that the contract would not proceed, yet the government continued implementation," Adv Karim added.

Earlier, on 30 July, a High Court bench comprising Justice Habibul Gani and Justice Sheikh Tahsin Ali issued a rule questioning why the contract process should not be declared unlawful. 

The court also asked why a fair and competitive public bidding process was not ensured before assigning an operator to manage the NCT. 

The petition was partly prompted by a 26 April report in a national daily, which questioned why the fully equipped terminal was being handed to a foreign firm, alongside media coverage highlighting transparency concerns.

Ashuganj terminal project advances with government finance

Meanwhile, the government is moving ahead with the Ashuganj Inland Container Terminal (ICT) project, initially launched by the previous Awami League government to facilitate inland cargo and container transport, including Indian goods transiting via Chattogram Port to India's northeastern Seven Sisters region.

The project was budgeted at Tk1,751 crore, with Tk732.75 crore from an Indian concessional loan and Tk1,018.25 crore from government funds. The current government decided not to use the Indian loan but stressed the project's importance for domestic cargo handling. The Ministry of Shipping requested that the LoC portion be reallocated as a government grant.

Work began in 2022, and under a transit and transhipment agreement with India, the terminal is expected to streamline goods movement. On 5 March, during a bilateral LoC review chaired by finance adviser Salehuddin Ahmed, Bangladesh formally excluded the project from the Indian LoC, a decision communicated to India on 29 July by the Economic Relations Division.

Following the LoC cancellation, the Ministry formed a technical committee on 6 January, which recommended proceeding under government financing. The project steering committee, at its 25 September meeting, endorsed this approach and advised amendments to the Revised Development Project Proposal (RDPP). 

On 4 November, the Ministry wrote to finance secretary Khairuzzaman Mozumder, requesting allocation of the LoC portion as a government grant. The letter noted that government funds are being used for land acquisition, PGCB, and railway infrastructure, while LoC funds were originally meant for civil works, equipment import, and consultancy.

To date, Tk735 crore has been spent—Tk726 crore from government funds and Tk9.21 crore from project loans—achieving 42% physical progress and 41.95% financial progress. 

PGCB-related works are 95% complete, and railway underpass construction is scheduled for December 2027.

The dual development underscores the government's approach: halting foreign-managed NCT operations pending legal review, while advancing domestic container terminal infrastructure at Ashuganj.