Canada has congratulated Bangladesh on the occasion of the inauguration of the Padma Bridge on Saturday.

In a Twitter post on Saturday (25 June), Canada High Commission in Bangladesh said, "Today Bangladesh marks an important milestone – the inaugural opening of the Padma Bridge As a longtime partner in Bangladesh's development, we congratulate you on this achievement."

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the bridge around 12:00 pm on Saturday and crossed to reach Janjira from Mawa.

The Padma Bridge project has been implemented at a cost of Tk 30,193.39 crore with almost 100 percent internal funding which is believed to bring a new world to the country's economy by connecting 21 southwestern districts through roads and railways with the capital.

Starting in 1999 with a pre-feasibility study, construction of the bridge, which has since generated numerous headlines, has had its share of delays and even courted controversy.

The construction of the main bridge was carried out by China Major Bridge Engineering Company (MBEC), a Chinese contractor company, and the river training was done by Sino Hydro Corporation of China.

The construction works began in December 2015 as the premier inaugurated the river training work and main construction work of Padma Bridge project at Janjira point in Shariatpur district on December 12, 2015. The first span of the Padma Bridge was installed at the Janjira point of Shariatpur on October 7, 2017.

The prime minister formally laid the foundation-stone of Padma Bridge at Mawa in Munshiganj on July 4, 2001. The construction of the bridge was supposed to start in 2015, but the cancellation of foreign aid for it and an increasing depth of the river, among other complications, delayed the work.