The government of Bangladesh has initiated a move to hand over the operations and maintenance of Chittagong Port’s New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) and its Overflow Container Yard (OCY) to an international terminal operator for 15 years.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs gave an in-principle approval to a draft concession agreement for the proposed arrangement at a meeting on Thursday, following a proposal from the Ministry of Shipping. Names of any company, however, were not disclosed.
A project, titled “Operation and Maintenance of CPA’s New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) including Overflow Yard (OCY)”, will be implemented under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) framework. Under the proposed concession, a foreign terminal operator will be responsible for operating and maintaining the facilities for 15 years.
The move has triggered strong reactions from Bondar Rokkha Committee, Chattogram Bondar Rokkha Shongram Porishad and various port-based labour organisations, which have long opposed a long-term concession for the NCT.
The protesting organisations said they do not oppose appointing an experienced international terminal operator through a transparent international tender. But they oppose “handing over the terminal under a long-term concession or lease arrangement.”
Delwar Majumder, convener of Bondar Rokkha Committee, and Fazlul Kabir Mintu, its member secretary, criticised the government move.
In a statement, they said the decision was taken under the “Miscellaneous” agenda item at Thursday’s Cabinet Committee meeting, rather than as part of the main agenda.
The committee leaders said NCT has already established itself as a vital component of the country’s port infrastructure.
They said that before handing over such an established facility, developed with state investment, under a long-term concession, the government should clarify whether it has assessed the terminal’s revenue-generating capacity and future potential under state management.
They demanded that the government make the complete draft concession agreement and its financial structure public. They also called for an independent economic and technical assessment of the proposal, guarantees for employment and rights of workers and employees, and clear safeguards concerning national security and strategic interests.
The committee leaders urged the government to immediately withdraw the decision regarding the concession agreement and refrain from finalising any contract until a comprehensive assessment of its implications for the national interest is completed.
Meanwhile, Chattogram Bondar Rokkha Shongram Porishad, in a statement signed by joint coordinators Md Humayun Kabir and Md Ibrahim Khokon, claimed in the evening that the initiative to hand over NCT operations to a foreign entity DP World began in 2017 during the previous government and should have been discontinued following the student-led mass uprising.
Humayun Kabir told TIMES, “As negotiations between the government and DP World over the operation of the NCT are underway, we believe the government has decided to appoint the foreign operator to run the terminal. In protest, we have organised a protest meeting on the evening of Saturday (October 3). At the meeting, we will announce our final decision on whether to launch a hunger strike unto death as part of our subsequent programme.”
Since its construction in 2007, the terminal had been operated by Saif Powertec under the Direct Procurement Method. On July 7, 2025, responsibility for operating the terminal was assigned to Chittagong Dry Dock Limited, a government-owned entity under the management of the Bangladesh Navy.
