T3 needs additional Tk902cr to open: Minister

The government needs an additional Tk902 crore to make the third terminal at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport operational, despite around 99.91% of the construction work being completed, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister M Rashiduzzaman Millat told Parliament on Sunday.

The additional funds are needed to complete the remaining work, settle outstanding payments to the contractor and clear dues owed to other agencies, the minister said.

He made the disclosure in response to a supplementary question from Abdul Hannan Masud, a Noakhali-6 constituency, during the question-answer session.

The minister added an asset worth around $2.1 billion risked remaining unused because important machinery, systems and installation work had not been completed even though the main construction was almost finished.

“The government could not use the facility, while repayment of a large portion of the loan taken from the Japan International Cooperation Agency had already begun,” Millat said.

As the terminal remained non-operational, it was generating no revenue to help service the debt, he said.

After taking office, the government reviewed the project’s financial position and found that Tk902 crore would be required to complete the remaining work, settle previous dues to the contractor and pay outstanding bills to other agencies.

The civil aviation ministry has already applied to the Planning and Finance ministries for the additional allocation, Millat said.

He said the allocation was being sought transparently and was necessary to prevent the newly built terminal from remaining idle and causing further financial losses.

Once the additional funds are approved, the terminal can be made operational quickly, he said.

The minister said the third terminal would double the airport’s existing passenger-handling capacity of around 1.2 million, while revenue from the facility would help the government repay the JICA loan.

Meanwhile, around 57% of the Operational Readiness and Airport Transfer (ORAT) activities required to make the third terminal operational have been completed, Millat said in a separate written response to a question from Sultana Ahmed, MP for reserved women’s seat-17.

The government and the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) are working to complete the remaining ORAT activities within the scheduled timeframe, he said.

During FY2025-26, CAAB received 1,048 complaints concerning baggage and ground-handling services at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport through its website and hotline. Of these, 1,040, or 99.23%, were resolved.