Students for Sovereignty Demands Cancellation of DP World’s NCT Deal
Students for Sovereignty has alleged that the agreement with DP World to operate Chittagong Port’s New Mooring Container Terminal (NCT) puts Bangladesh’s economic interests and sovereignty at risk. The organisation has demanded the cancellation of the deal and clear answers to six questions concerning its financial structure, operational rights and capacity targets.
The group held a protest rally in front of the National Museum in Shahbagh, Dhaka, on Monday (October 12). In a written statement, convener Muhammad Ziaul Haque, member secretary Shahadat Farazi Sakib and spokesperson Muhiuddin Rahat raised questions about several aspects of the agreement.
The statement said the government had presented DP World as an operator, but publicly available information indicated that the deal was a concession agreement. The organisation said the extent of the company’s control and rights under the agreement needed to be clarified.
According to the group, DP World will pay an upfront fee of around Tk 600 crore before taking over operations. However, the Chittagong Port Authority has invested several thousand crore taka in the NCT’s infrastructure, cranes and equipment. The organisation questioned the basis for setting the fee at Tk 600 crore, considering the value of the terminal’s assets and its future earnings as an operational and profitable facility.
DP World has pledged to invest more than Tk 1,000 crore in modernising the NCT over the first 10 years. However, Students for Sovereignty claimed that the terminal currently earns around Tk 1,800 crore in annual net income from container handling under local management alone. According to its calculation, this could generate around Tk 18,000 crore over 10 years. The group questioned whether the terminal could have been modernised using its own earnings under domestic management.
The organisation also challenged the proposed container-handling targets. According to its figures, the NCT handled around 1.385 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers under local management in the 2025–26 fiscal year. In contrast, the proposed target for DP World is a minimum of 1.23 million TEUs annually. This means the current management has already handled around 155,000 TEUs more than the proposed minimum target.
Analysing the agreement’s financial structure, the group estimated a potential annual revenue gap of around $95.6 million, or Tk 1,180 crore. It estimated that the NCT could generate around $148 million in annual net income under domestic management. Under calculations based on DP World’s proposal, the port authority’s potential net income would be around $52.3 million. However, the organisation described these figures as preliminary because the full financial structure of the agreement has not been disclosed.
Although it does not oppose foreign investment, Students for Sovereignty criticised the model of handing full operational control of such an important terminal to a foreign company. It argued that a joint partnership model could have preserved domestic control. Citing port management practices in Singapore and Vietnam, the group said the government should have considered arrangements that combine local control with foreign partnerships.
The organisation also warned that the agreement could harm domestic public and private companies, hinder human resource development and technology transfer, and slow the growth of Bangladesh’s port management industry. It further claimed that the deal could create national security and sovereignty risks due to geopolitical considerations.
The written statement said the agreement with DP World for NCT operations was signed on October 8. Students for Sovereignty has demanded its immediate cancellation to protect Bangladesh’s economic security and sovereignty. It has also called on the government to provide clear explanations of the full financial structure, operational rights, the basis for determining capacity targets and the measures taken to protect domestic interests.
