Karnaphuli Tunnel
History
On October 14, 2016, Bangladesh Prime Minister and Chinese President Xi Jinping laid the foundation stone of the project. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping inaugurated the construction site of the Bangabandhu Tunnel on 14 October 2017. Hasina officially inaugurated the construction of the tunnel and inaugurated the tunnel boring phase on February 24, 2019. On Saturday 28 October 2023, Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Bangabandhu Tunnel and was made available for traffic from 6 am the next day.
Financing
The construction of the tunnel cost ৳10374 crore (US$880 million). In October 2016, during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping to Dhaka, the loan agreement for the construction of the Bangabandhu Tunnel was signed. According to the agreement, Exim Bank of China provided ৳5913 crore (US$500 million) as a 20-year loan at 2 percent interest rate. The rest of the funding was provided by the Bangladesh government.
Toll chart
Vehicle Type | Toll Rate (Tk) |
---|---|
Private Cars & Pick-up Trucks | 200 |
Microbuses | 250 |
Buses (< 31 seats) | 300 |
Buses (32 seats or more) | 400 |
Big Buses (3XL) | 500 |
Trucks (up to 5 tonnes) | 400 |
Trucks (8 tonnes) | 500 |
Trucks (11 tonnes) | 600 |
3XL Trailer | 800 |
4XL Trailer | 1000 |
Additional charge per XL | 200 |
Technologies
The Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel has more than 100 cameras for security, capable of discerning license plate numbers.
See also
- Dhaka-Chittagong Highway
- Chittagong port
- List of megaprojects in Bangladesh
- Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, namesake of the tunnel
- Belt and Road Initiative