The first meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) of the current interim government will be held today (18 September) to nod final approval of five development projects.
These projects would require fresh investment worth Tk5,563.68 crore, while the government would provide Tk5,203.21 crore from its own exchequer and another Tk360.47 crore would be managed from foreign sources as loans and grants, said officials at the Planning Commission.
They said that Chief Adviser to the Interim Government Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus will preside over the meeting to be held at the Office of the Chief Adviser at the old parliament building.
Later, Planning Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud will present the details of the meeting at a press briefing at the NEC auditorium.
Working paper of the meeting revealed that the Planning Commission is supposed to present fresh two project proposals for final approval and another three proposals to be placed for revision of the existing projects.
The cost of these three projects will be increased from the initial estimate of Tk3,628.39 crore to Tk8,219.31 crore. As such, the government's expenditure on these three projects will increase by Tk4,590.92 crore, which is 126.53% higher than the initial estimate.
Apart from this, a special revision proposal to extend the tenure of one more project without increasing the expenditure is being raised in the first meeting of the new government.
Officials said that work on a project began in July 2018 to acquire land by June 2020 to upgrade the existing road from Faridpur to Kuakata via Bhanga-Barishal and Patuakhali to four lanes with separate lanes for slow moving vehicles.
Although more than six years have passed, there has been no significant progress in the implementation of initial works to develop better road connection with the proposed EPZ in Patuakhali, Payra Thermal Power Station, Payra Deep Sea Port, Mongla Port from the capital and western region of the country.
The Road Transport and Highways Division proposed the first revision proposal of the project to extend the land acquisition deadline to June 2026.
At the same time, it proposed to increase the cost of the project from initial estimate of Tk1,867.86 crore to Tk5,899.66 crore.
The two-year land acquisition work will take a total of eight years to complete if final approval is given. At the same time, Tk4,031.80 crore from government funds will increase the cost of the project by 3.16 times.
The first revision proposal of the construction of Bakhrabad-Meghnaghat-Haripur gas transmission pipeline project will be placed at the meeting, which was approved at an initial cost of Tk1,304.62 crore in July 2021.
The cost of the project is going to be increased by Tk266.15 crore or 20.40% due to delay in the implementation of the project.
The second revision proposal of the project titled ‘Tathya Apa: Empowering Women through Information and Communication Technology to Build Digital Bangladesh’ approved in 2017 is being raised in the meeting.
Final approval of the project would allow nine years and three months to implement the project approved for five years initially.
The government has to spend 64.26% higher to implement this project, which is known as an important one of the previous Awami League government.
Apart from this, a project to drill two appraisal and development wells and two exploratory wells for natural gas in Noakhali, Cumilla and Jamalpur will be placed in the meeting.
Bangladesh Oil, Gas & Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla) a company of Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company Limited (BAPEX) will implement the project by June 2026 at a cost of Tk588.40 crore.
On the other hand, a project titled providing sustainable social services in the Chittagong Hill Tracts area with a cost of Tk400 crore will be tabled at the meeting.
United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) will provide about Tk100 crore as grant to implement the project, according to the project documents.
