IDCOL extends $20m loan to Rampura-Amulia-Demra Expressway project

The Infrastructure Development Company Limited (IDCOL) extended $20 million long-term loan to Dhaka RAD Elevated Expressway Company Limited (DREECL), an SPV (Special Purpose Vehicle) formed to implement the PPP project Improvement of Hatirjheel (Rampura Bridge)-Shekherjaiga-Amulia-Demra Road (with link to Tarabo and Chittagong Road). 

In this regard, a loan agreement has been inked where Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) hosted the signing ceremony on 27 July at its headquarter in Beijing, said a press release.

The project is being developed through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) structure. Being one of the key infrastructure projects of the PPP Authority of the government, the project was screened by the PPP Authority (PPPA) and granted the in-principle approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) of GoB in January 2016. 

In February 2018, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD), acting on behalf of the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges of Bangladesh (MRTB), started an open competitive bidding process for the private partner, where Asian Development Bank (ADB) acted as the transaction advisor to RHD. In December 2021, the sponsors, China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC) and China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) were officially appointed as the preferred awardee. The PPP Contract was signed between RHD and sponsors in January 2022.

The total cost of the project is estimated to be USD 261 million, of which USD 68 million would come from sponsors' equity and USD 193 million from the syndication of IDCOL, AIIB, Bank of China and DBS Bank. 

The signing ceremony was attended, among others, by Yang Meng, managing director,  Yu Jing, deputy general manager, Li Changgui, deputy general manager,   Pronab Kumar Ghosh, director general, Md Enamul Haque, project director, S. M Monirul Islam, deputy CEO & CFO, IDCOL, Fang Ke, director general, AIIB, Zheng Ke, China head, DBS Bank, and Yang Shixin, head of Structured Finance Team, Bank of China. 

IDCOL, a government owned non-banking financial institution is the country's leading financier in the private sector infrastructure, renewable energy, and energy efficiency sectors. IDCOL plays a significant role in catalysing private sector investment across these segments.