Bangladesh Railways is going to get 20 meter gauge engines worth more than Tk 1500 crore from China as a grant. The Chinese government will fully finance it. This will include the cost of the engines, as well as five years of spare parts and maintenance costs.

Railway sources said that the procurement of these engines provided by China will not require a tender process. As a result, there is a possibility of getting new engines in hand within one to one and a half years. Usually, it takes two to three years to complete various formalities including tender to buy new engines. According to the project proposal, the potential cost of procurement of 20 engines has been estimated at Tk 1,635 crore. Of this, Tk 1,591 crore will be borne by the Chinese government. The Bangladesh government will have to spend about Tk 440 crore on customs and taxes.

Currently, the shortage of meter gauge engines in the country has become acute. Meter gauge trains operate in Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet and various districts of North Bengal. Due to the lack of engines, several passenger and freight train services are being canceled every day. In June alone, 435 trains had to be cancelled in the eastern region. This has increased the suffering of passengers, while more than 1,000 containers are stuck at the Chittagong port.

Earlier, India had given 30 old broad gauge engines to Bangladesh free of cost between 2020 and 2023. As India is rapidly moving towards electric trains, unused diesel engines were given as a donation. However, this is the first time that the engines will be available from China. Earlier, rail coaches were imported from the country several times, but the engines were not brought.

The issue was discussed during the recent visit of Chief Advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus to China. Later, the Chinese embassy formally proposed to the Bangladesh government. The initial approval of the project was given on September 24. The project period is set to December 2027.

Director General of Railways Md. Amjad Hossain said, “The shortage of engines on the railways is evident. This shortage is especially acute on meter gauge lines. In this situation, getting engines as a Chinese donation will speed up the railway services.” If this Chinese donation is implemented, China will be the tenth country to join the Bangladesh Railway fleet, joining nine other countries including the United States, Germany, India, and Korea.