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The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Sunday approved 11 development projects involving a total cost of Tk 78.55 billion.
The projects include five new initiatives, three revised projects and tenure extension of three ongoing projects without additional costs.
Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud disclosed it at a press briefing at the NEC Auditorium in the capital after the ECNEC meeting, which was held with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus in the chair.
Of the total cost, the government will provide Tk 50.14 billion from the public exchequer, Tk 2.57 billion will come from the implementing agencies, and Tk 25.84 billion will be available from external loans and grants, according to Planning Commission documents.
Of the previously approved revised projects, the total cost stands at Tk 181.73 billion, with Tk 100.02 billion coming from domestic sources and Tk 81.71 billion from external sources, the documents revealed.
The ECNEC meeting approved Tk 18.18 billion in favour of the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) for modernisation and capacity enhancement of 33/11 KV existing outdoor substations in industry-prone areas in the country.
Planning Commission (PC) officials said the BREB project will be implemented by Power Division by June 2029 with a Tk 10.81 billion worth of support from the German development bank KfW.
The project will be implemented in Cumilla under Chattogram Division and Dhaka, Gazipur, Manikganj, Munshiganj, Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Tangail districts under Dhaka Division.
After its implementation, the power distribution capacity of BREB would increased up to 418 MVA, for which the system loss in the project areas is expected to decrease to 5.82 per cent from 6.62 per cent while the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) would come down to 300 minutes from 332 minutes.
The meeting gave its approval to the third revision of the Dhaka Environmentally Sustainable Water Supply Project with an estimated cost of Tk 109.74 billion including Tk 67.39 billion worth of external loans.
The project cost was raised by Tk 28.27 billion from that of its second revision involving Tk 81.47 billion.
The Tk 52.48-billion project, which was approved in 2013 aiming to supply 500 million litres of water in the capital from the Meghna River, has increased by Tk 57.25 billion.
The ECNEC also gave its nod to the proposal of first revision of a project for developing around 200 mini stadiums at Upazila levels with the revised cost of Tk 28.56 billion.
The original project was approved in July 2021 with an initial cost of Tk 16.49 billion and it has been revised upward by Tk 12.06 billion or 73.13 per cent.
About the ADP implementation rate in July, which remained below one per cent, the Planning Adviser said the ADP execution rate in the last fiscal was lower than the target due to various 'acceptable reasons'.
"This is not a good sign and it needs to be improved. Even, this (implementation rate) is lower in comparison to that of last year," the adviser said, adding that the ADP execution was to be accelerated this year.
The Adviser mentioned that the contractors and the project directors, who are usually the government-appointed officials, were transferred willingly for any other reasons.
"New contractors are yet to be appointed.., So, I think execution of many projects is yet to get momentum," he observed.
Dr Mahmud further said: "…we have lowered the size of the ADP willingly to make it realistic, so our target is to implement it properly."
The adviser also mentioned that all ministries and divisions would be given directives to expedite their project execution.
"There will be no excuse for this purpose, the project works have to be going on with their normal pace," he added.
He said generally, the government revises the ADP in March-April, but this year it will be done by December or January.
The meeting approved the "Sustainable agricultural development in Rangpur Region through modern technology expansion" with an estimated cost of Tk 1.43 billion.
The much much-discussed "Establishment of Rabindra University, Bangladesh" project also received approval with a cost of Tk 5.19 billion.
The proposal for the first revision of "Establishment of Burn and Plastic Surgery Units at 5 Medical College Hospitals (Sylhet, Barishal, Rangpur, Rajshahi, and Faridpur)" got the ECNEC approval with an additional cost of Tk 3.60 billion.
The meeting also approved the "Construction of residential flats for government employees at Azimpur Government Colony, Dhaka" worth Tk 7.75 billion.
The project titled "Construction of two residential buildings for officials and employees of the Bangladesh Fire Service & Civil Defense" will require Tk 651.2 million.
The meeting also approved the fourth tenure extension of "Expansion and development of safe water supply and sanitation system in Bandarban Pourashava and three Upazila sadar and adjacent areas in Bandarban District", the sixth extension of "BMRE of Carew and Co (BD) Limited", and fourth extension of "Establishment of Telecommunication Network at Mirsharai Economic Zone, Chattogram" project.
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