Projects under India's USD 1 billion credit line in B'desh

Dhaka, July 6 (PTI) Projects under India's USD 1
billion credit line were expected to be finalised ahead of
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Bangladesh visit in September
this year, country's finance minister said here Wednesday.
"And we expect all the projects will be finalized
before the scheduled meeting of the two premiers," Bangladesh
Finance Minister A M A Muhith told newsmen after a meeting
with visiting External Affairs Minister S M Krishna here.
He said India so far agreed on finalising eight of the
20 projects of which 12 were on railway sector alone while
Bagladesh Railway on Monday inked a USD 16.45 million deal
with Indian company Texmaco Ltd, the first-ever contract under
the credit agreement signed between the two countries last
year.
The 20 development projects will be implemented under
the line of credit, signed between the two countries in August
last year.
Under the deal, India is lend the amount, the biggest
it offered to any foreign country so far, at a 1.75 per cent
interest rate with a repayment period of 20 years, including a
grace period of five years.
Muhith said negotiations between India and Bangladesh
were on to finalise the rest of the projects under the credit
line and "we expect all the projects will be finalized before
the scheduled meeting of the two premiers".
He said there were no much differences of opinion
between the two countries about the rest of the projects sans
some quarries from India about some of the projects.