The Mongla Port Authority (MPA) has taken a project titled “Mongla Port Modernization Project” with an estimated cost of Taka 6,014 crore for increasing the capacity of the second largest seaport.
The works for infrastructural development of the Mongla port is expected to begin during the beginning of next year, the MPA sources said.
Mongla Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral M Mozammel Haque said capacity of the port will enhance manifolds on completion of the project.
Of the total project cost, Taka 1,840 crore will come from the Bangladesh government while the Indian Government will provide Taka 4,174 crore as soft loan (Lime of Credit).
The project includes expanding of two jetties with container facilities, 600-meter parking yard, a large multistoried garage for car parking, four lanes six-km roads with drainage system, a shipyard, flyover purchasing of survey and tag boats and modern machineries for handling cargoes and containers and other facilities.
The government has taken a set of development projects for gearing up import and export activities through the port.
The government has already collected a mobile harbor crane which began activities for loading and unloading containers from ships on August this year.
Mongla Port has already turned into a profitable and busy port with enhancing facilities of foreign ship anchoring, cargo handling and exports and imports in the last 10 years.
As many as 100 foreign ships were anchored in February, 2019, breaking all previous records, Md Mostofa Kamal, director of MPA said.Some 912 ships were anchored while 1.13 crore tonnes cargo were handled in 2018-2019 fiscal year, he added.
The Mongla Port, which was previously known as Chalna Port, was founded in Mongla, Bagerhat in 1950.
