Home ›› 05 Jan 2022 ›› Back
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday approved 10 projects, including the Tk 727.63 crore Kumargaon-Badaghat-Sylhet Airport highway four-lane upgradation and the Tk 11,142 crore Ashrayan-2.
The first project is aimed at reducing traffic jam, and the other will provide homes for 4.86 lakh homeless families.
The projects were approved at the ECNEC meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. She attended the meeting virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban while ministers, state ministers, Planning Commission members, and secretaries joined it from the NEC conference room in the capital’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.
After the meeting, Planning Minister MA Mannan told reporters the total cost of the 10 projects is Tk 11,211.44 crore.
“Of that, Tk 10,713.25 crore will come from the government exchequer, and Tk 498.19 crore from the organisations’ own funds,” he added.
Three of the 10 projects are new while the remaining seven are revised.
Mannan said the government plans to upgrade the 12.78km Kumargaon-Badaghat-Sylhet Airport highway to four lanes to ease traffic jam and commuting in Sylhet city.
The project cost will come from the government exchequer, and the Roads and Highways Department will implement it. Its tenure is from December 2021 to June 2024, he also said.
Besides, traffic jam in Sylhet city would be reduced by constructing alternative roads for trucks and other heavy vehicles plying from Bholaganj to the city.
The width of the Kumargaon-Badaghat-Sylhet Airport highway is 5.5 metres. The Sylhet Road has started at a distance of 800 metres from the end of the highway, which provides the main roadway communication with the big stone quarries of the country.
Mannan said the ECNEC had approved the 4th revision of the Ashrayan-2 project and extended its tenure till June 2023.
After the 4th revision, the project’s estimated cost increased to Tk 11,142 crore, which was Tk 4,826 crore after the third revision. The fund will come from state coffers.
The minister said the revised development project proposal had been restructured by increasing the construction cost of a single house from Tk 2 lakh to Tk 2.4 lakh.
The other projects approved at the meeting are “Developing important infrastructure and roads including airport under the Chattogram City Corporation” (Tk 2,490.96 crore), “Building logistics and fleet maintenance facilities for Bangladesh Coast Guard (1st revision)” (additional cost of Tk 135.94 crore), “Modernisation, Digitisation, and Automation of Bangladesh Television’s Central Broadcasting System (Phase 1) (1st revision)” (additional cost of Tk 35.68 crore), “Mobile game and application skill development (3rd revision)” (additional cost of Tk 48.28 crore), “Polder 43/1 and 44 rehabilitation under Barguna district and prevention of risky parts from erosion of Payra River” (Tk 751.29 crore), “Erosion prevention of Brahmaputra River in Chilmari and Ulipur upazilas of Kurigram district” (1st revision) (additional cost of Tk 145.71 crore), “Basic and applied research on jute (3rd revision)” (additional cost of Tk 6.92 crore), and “BEPZA economic zone, Mirsarai-1st phase (1st revision)” (additional cost of Tk 552.32 crore).
At the meeting, the prime minister unveiled the cover of a book titled “Bangladesh at 50: Realisation of Dreams through Humane and Patriotic Leadership”.
