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The government on Tuesday approved the installation of 50km Bakhrabad-Meghnaghat-Haripur gas transmission line project at a cost of Tk 13.05 billion to supply the fossil fuel to power plants and industries, officials said.
Presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) endorsed the project along with nine others at a total cost of Tk 66.51 billion, Planning Minister MA Mannan said.
After the ECNEC meeting, Mannan told reporters that out of the total Tk 66.51 billion, Tk 52.19 billion would come from the government's internal resources, Tk 7.94 billion from the implementing agencies' own fund, and the rest Tk 6.37 billion from the external resources as the project assistance.
The state-run Gas Transmission Company Limited (GTCL) will lay the 50km pipeline from Bakhrabad to Haripur via Meghnaghat to supply natural gas to six power stations -- some are currently in operation and some others were waiting for commercial operations.
The ECNEC meeting also approved a project costing Tk 14.00 billion to construct some 30 silos across the country having facilities of paddy drying and preservation with an overall storage capacity of 0.15 million tonnes.
The Planning minister said that initially 30 steel silos would be built and later the number of silos would be increased.
Each of the 30 silos will have a capacity of 5,000 metric tonnes of paddy storage with their sorting, drying, humidity controlling system and other facilities.
PM Sheikh Hasina has directed the authorities concerned to build such silos in the country's southern region, especially in Bhola, Patuakhai and Borguna, since the production of food grains is rising in that region, Mannan said.
He said the PM laid emphasis on conducting continuous maintenance dredging of rivers across the country for their smooth navigability.
PM Hasina also asked the authorities concerned not to make any unnatural barrier to the usual flow of water, he added.
When the ECNEC approved the enhancing training capacity of BPATC (1st revised) project with an additional Tk 3.49 billion to Tk 12.07 billion, Mannan quoting the prime minister said she had underscored the need for ensuring foundation training courses for 10 months instead of 2-3 months.The prime min ister also laid emphasis on high quality research at the Bangladesh College of Physicians and Surgeons, as the ECNEC on Tuesday approved a modernisation and expansion project of the institute costing Tk 2.15 billion.