Serious allegations of corruption and large-scale financial irregularities have surfaced in the Jamuna Railway Bridge construction project, one of Bangladesh’s largest foreign-funded infrastructure ventures, casting a shadow over a project hailed as a milestone in national rail connectivity.
Audit reports and official documents from the Railways’ Audit Branch, the Foreign Aided Projects Audit Directorate (FAPAD) and the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) point to alleged irregularities involving more than Tk 3,000 crore.
The findings raise questions over non-transparent expenditure, inflated pricing, weak internal controls and repeated deviations from government financial rules and contractual conditions. This foreign-funded railway bridge project came under scrutiny involving the Bangladesh Railways Project Director and Additional Director General (Infrastructure) Al Fattah Md. Masudur Rahman.
The project involved the construction of a double-line railway bridge over the Jamuna River at a cost of Tk 16,780 crore, financed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Train services on the bridge began on March 18 this year, significantly enhancing rail links between the country’s eastern and western regions.
However, an examination of multiple audit documents indicates that a substantial portion of the questioned expenditure is linked to decisions approved at the project directorate level. FAPAD’s audit summary for the 2020–21 fiscal year alone raised objections over more than Tk 705 crore in expenditure. According to the audit, bills amounting to over Tk 127 crore were paid without detailed measurement sheets, engineering drawings or Bills of Quantities (BOQ), undermining standard verification procedures.
The audit further identified CD-VAT payments exceeding Tk 34 crore made without adequate supporting documentation. Questionable duty-VAT payments on unused steel pipe piles left more than Tk 5.5 crore of public funds tied up, while auditors estimated a potential loss of around Tk 99 crore due to the failure to impose delay damages on contractors despite project delays.
Concerns were also raised over additional CD-VAT payments of approximately Tk 11 crore and revenue losses of about Tk 17 crore resulting from the non-deduction of VAT and income tax from contractors’ bills. Transactions conducted in Japanese yen also came under scrutiny, with FAPAD identifying more than 4,152 crore yen related to mobilisation and demobilisation costs as a ‘special observation’.
Audit findings suggest that the scale of irregularities increased in later years. The Special Financial Inspection report for the 2022–23 fiscal year found that Tk 405 crore was paid irregularly for foreign equipment procured from countries not specified in the contract. Another Tk 430 crore was reportedly paid as CD-VAT through unconventional channels rather than through the Customs House.
Pricing and contract approvals were also flagged. Audit observations stated that the government incurred additional costs of Tk 1,221 crore due to contracts awarded at unusually high prices across several packages, alongside further losses linked to inflated price adjustments and site facility costs.
In several major work packages, field engineers reportedly recommended lower costs or re-verification of work measurements. Audit documents, however, indicate that these objections were frequently overridden, with some observations noting that the “possibility of collusion” in awarding contracts to non-responsive bidders could not be ruled out.
The Anti-Corruption Commission has launched a parallel investigation. In a letter dated August 4 to the Director General of Bangladesh Railways, the ACC said widespread irregularities had been identified, warning that proven corruption in a foreign-funded project could jeopardise current and future financing from development partner JICA.
ACC Deputy Assistant Director Md Imran Akon confirmed that a preliminary investigation is ongoing, though details cannot be disclosed at this stage. Attempts to contact the Project Director for comment were unsuccessful.
Selim Reza, Sirajganj
