World Bank to provide additional $140 million for Chattogram water project

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The World Bank will provide an additional $140 million to Bangladesh to complete the Chittagong Water Supply Improvement Project, as the government seeks to ensure its uninterrupted implementation after reallocating a significant portion of the original budget.

The government and the International Development Association (IDA), the World Bank Group's concessional lending arm, signed an additional financing agreement in Dhaka on Thursday.

Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Md Shahriar Kader Siddiky and Jean Pesme, the World Bank's division director for Bangladesh and Bhutan, signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides.

The additional funding will be used to improve water supply services in the port city and help the government implement the project in line with its original Development Project Proposal (DPP).

Launched in 2025, the project is scheduled to continue until December 2030. The additional financing will also remain valid until December 31, 2030.

The Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (CWASA) is implementing the project under the Local Government Division of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives.

The project aims to expand access to safe, reliable and climate-resilient water supplies, improve sanitation facilities and strengthen CWASA's operational performance and financial sustainability.

According to the ERD, the additional $140 million will come from the IDA's Scale-up Window–Shorter Maturity Loan (SUW-SML).

The loan will have a 12-year repayment period, including a six-year grace period. No service charge, commitment fee or interest will be payable on the withdrawn amount.