Sixty-five billion dollar mega plan for Maheshkhali-Matarbari, millions of jobs over three decades

The Moheshkhali Integrated Development Authority (MIDA) has adopted an integrated master plan to build one of the country's largest economic hubs around Maheshkhali and Matarbari in Cox's Bazar. Over the next three decades, the plan aims to attract around 60 to 65 billion US dollars of investment from domestic and foreign sources to the region, of which at least 5 billion dollars will come as foreign direct investment (FDI).

If this vast development outline is implemented, it will create 150,000 direct jobs and a further 2.5 million indirect jobs. In addition, the region's contribution to the national economy will stand at around 150 billion dollars, logistics costs will fall by 4 billion dollars, and savings of around 16 to 18 billion dollars will be possible in foreign currency transactions.

The long-term report was presented by MIDA at a meeting held recently at the NEC conference room in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital, chaired by State Minister for Planning Jonaid Saki.

MIDA member and Additional Secretary Md. Sarwar Alam said the integrated master plan was prepared in light of a detailed study and research by the US-based international consulting firm McKinsey & Company. He said, 'This development work will be implemented in three phases. The first phase is from 2026 to 2030, the second phase from 2030 to 2040, and the final or third phase from 2040 to 2056.'

Under the outline of the master plan, the first phase from 2026 to 2030 will build mega infrastructure such as a deep seaport, connecting roads, the third and fourth coal-fired power plants, solar power, and floating and onshore LNG terminals.

In the first phase, there is a target to build a 2-billion-dollar onshore LNG terminal and to bring the single point mooring (SPM) into full operation by December 2026. At the same time, an initiative has been taken to build ship repair facilities and a modern dry dock with about 1.5 billion dollars of foreign capital.

In the second phase, a modern township, roads, embankments, gas and water supply networks, and multimodal transport facilities will be built. In this phase, a large oil refinery and petrochemical complex will be built at a cost of 10 billion dollars under the supervision of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), and an LPG plant will be built for 150 million dollars.

The energy sector will be the main driving force of this economic zone. The proposed oil refinery on 1,200 acres will have the capacity to refine 150,000 to 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day, which, if implemented between 2031 and 2036, will substantially reduce dependence on imports of fuel products.

In addition, arrangements are being made to supply 1,000 MMCFD of gas per day from the onshore LNG terminal and 600 MMCFD from the floating terminal. Along with the 1,200-megawatt coal power plant already in production, new units and renewable energy will be added to raise power generation capacity to 5,660 megawatts by 2040 and to 6,060 megawatts by 2050.

On the other hand, once the SPM is operational, the time to unload oil from large ships at sea will fall from 9 days to 3 days, saving about 800 crore taka a year.

The Matarbari deep seaport is being built as the main centre of import-export trade, where huge commercial ships with a capacity of 8,000 TEUs and a depth of 14.5 metres will be able to berth directly at the jetty. To connect the port with the national highway, a 27-kilometre-long access road and 14 bridges are being built.

In addition, for the purpose of rapid industrialisation, the development of the Dhalghata economic zone, built on 1,240 acres, is planned to be completed by 2030, of which about 570 acres have already been allotted to three industrial groups.

In the final phase, the entire region will be transformed into a centre of international-standard heavy industrial production, world-class tourism, and global exhibitions.

However, the authorities see land allocation and quick handover, construction of gas transmission infrastructure, and ensuring regular dredging of the port channel as major challenges in implementing this vast master plan.