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The Roads and Highways Department would spend a staggering Tk 61.40 billion from state coffers on land acquisition only before going to widen the Bhanga-Jashore-Benapole road, said insiders on Wednesday.
"If the acquisition alone costs this fabulous amount, how much will the proposed 129-kilometre road be viable for the economy?" questioned analysts.
Meanwhile, the RHD has taken up another project to widen the Bhanga-Jashore-Benapole road into a six-lane corridor at a cost of Tk 138.41 billion.
The RHD has proposed to invest Tk 199.81 billion, including the acquisition cost, for the project.
For widening each kilometre of the road, it means, the developer will require an astonishing Tk 1.55 billion.
It might be the costliest road project in Bangladesh, said some government officials involved with the project preparation and approval process.
Earlier, the Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga Expressway project costed Tk 110 billion for widening the 55-km the highway.
The FE analysis has found that the 55km Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga road, the eastern side stretch of the Bhanga-Jashore-Benapole highway, was the record cost involving road development project in Bangladesh.
The Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga road was thrown open to traffic in 2022 to run through the Padma Bridge.
South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) executive director Dr Selim Raihan questioned such colossal spending on road construction, saying: "Will those be really economically viable?"
"It's unfortunate that despite serious reservations from different quarters regarding the costly road project implementation by the RHD, the government is not taking it seriously," he told the FE.
"The government should think about the economic and financial returns from the roads built with bloated investments," suggested Mr Raihan.
The government will invest Tk 61.40 billion from its own resources while a lion's share of the total building cost will come from the Indian Line of Credit (LoC).
Both the projects for the road-expansion are already up for approval by the Planning Commission.
When contacted, a senior RHD official said cross-border trade might get a big boost as the Bhanga-Jashore-Benapole highway would be widened into a six-lane corridor in the next five years.
"We've sought approval of the Indian LoC-supported project to rebuild the highway aimed at improving sub-regional trade among South Asian nations as it (trade) is still very poor in volume."
The developer has recently sought the project's approval from the commission to upgrade the 129.17-kilometre road to four lanes and two other service lanes for slow-moving vehicles by June 2028.
It will reconstruct the road from Bhanga (Faridpur) to Benapole via Jashore for connecting Bangladesh with neighbouring India through Padma Bridge.
Currently, the highway is a two-lane corridor that connects the capital Dhaka with south-western districts and the country's largest land port of Benapole.
The Dhaka-Padma Bridge-Bhanga-Jashore-Benapole highway is part of the Asian Highways (AH)-01 and the SASEC Road Corridor-02.
As proposed, Tk 110.825 billion of the total project cost will be bankrolled from the Indian LoC-III and the remaining Tk 27.58 billion from internal resources.
In addition to doing expansion work, the RHD will build 34 overpasses and flyovers, 18 bridges, 155 culverts, two rail overpasses, two trumpet interchanges, 24 footbridges, one axel-load control station and two rest houses for drivers and passengers.
The Dhaka-Padma Bridge-Bhanga-Jashore-Benapole highway will help accelerate both vehicular movement and regional trade, according to an official of road transport and bridges ministry.
"The road will also connect Mongla seaport with the country's western frontiers. It will be utilised for linking Bangladesh with India, landlocked Nepal and Bhutan," he said.
According to the official, a road and a railway line from Mongla port will also connect Khulna, Jashore and Benapole to facilitate cross-border and regional trade in this subcontinent.
Since Nepal and Bhutan have sought to use Mongla port for their overseas trade, the Bhanga-Jashore-Benapole highway would expedite the initiative, he added.
When asked, a senior official of the commission said they were scrutinising the RHD proposal.
"Since the Bhanga-Jashore-Benapole highway is a busy and important corridor for both Bangladesh and regional trade, we have considered the project proposal seriously and are working accordingly," he said.