The third terminal is $2.1 billion in dead weight, and the government says one more payment will finally switch the lights on. But with Tk 4,469 crore already flagged as missing, some MPs aren't so sure of where this ends.
In a Nutshell
- Civil Aviation Minister M Rashiduzzaman Millat told parliament on August 30 that the government needs an extra Tk 902 crore to finish and open HSIA's third terminal.
- He said the previous AL government inaugurated the building in 2023 without finishing machinery integration or other essential works, calling it a case where "a building was inaugurated in the name of completion".
- Noakhali-6 MP Abdul Hannan Masud pointed out that the project cost had already jumped from Tk 13,000 crore to Tk 21,300 crore, and auditors from the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) found Tk 4,469 crore in irregularities tied to the contractor, asking if paying more now invites more corruption.
- Millat said only 57% of the Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer (ORAT) work is done, and revenue from the terminal is needed to repay a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), of which Tk 1,100 crore has already been repaid despite zero income from the unused building.
- The ministry has formally applied to the Planning and Finance ministries for the Tk 902 crore, saying the request is transparent and unavoidable.
Context
HSIA’s third terminal, funded largely by a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), was inaugurated in 2023 under the Awami League government as a flagship project. Since the current government took office, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and the Office of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) have uncovered thousands of crores in alleged irregularities involving the contractor and former officials, including cases against ex-adviser Tarique Ahmed Siddique. The terminal remains non-operational nearly three years after its ribbon-cutting.
Why It Matters
Bangladesh is repaying a JICA loan on an asset that generates zero revenue, so taxpayers are servicing debt on a building that produces no offsetting income. The Tk 902 crore request arrives while Tk 4,469 crore in flagged funds remains unaccounted for, raising the question of whether the same contractor should get fresh payments before that matter is resolved. The current government is using the terminal to frame the ousted Awami League administration as one that "inaugurated buildings, not projects". Doubling HSIA's passenger capacity carries real economic stakes for trade, tourism, and remittance-linked travel, so continued delay has genuine opportunity costs. How this final tranche is spent will test whether anti-corruption oversight of mega-projects has actually improved. The episode also shows how inherited infrastructure debt can outlast the government that created it.
What We Think
The cost has already grown 60% beyond the project's original estimate. Paying a contractor still under a Tk 4,469 crore audit cloud, without resolving the dispute first, lets payment outrun accountability.
With only 57% operational readiness, the terminal appears further from completion than officials suggest. No one has been held responsible for the original failure, so this isn't a closed chapter; it's another instalment.