The government has yet again decided to increase spending on operation support for the Development of e-Passport and Automated Border Control Management System in Bangladesh.
With this decision, the project costs witnessed three increases to the tune of Tk 173.43 crore or 5.19 per cent.
In the third phase, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) approved an increase of Tk 45.37 crore for this project, pushing up total costs to a total Tk 3,512.36 crore. A CCGP meeting chaired by the Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali gave the nod.
Briefing reporters after the meeting on Monday, Cabinet Division Secretary (Coordination and Reforms) Md Mahmudul Hossain Khan said, “Following a proposal from the Security Services Division, the CCGP approved the third variation of this project’s operation support.
According to the third variation, approval has been given for €46.50 lakh, equivalent to Tk 45.37 crore. This puts the revised contract value of the project at Tk 3,512.36 crore.
Sources say the original contract value for the project was Tk 3,338.93 crore. In the first phase, the expenditure increased by €40.92 lakh, equivalent to Tk 39.93 crore.
Then in the second phase, the project expenditure increased by an additional €90.30 lakh or Tk 88.11 crore. Now, with the latest hike, expenditure is increasing by Tk 45.37 crore in the third phase. The total expenditure of this project is now increasing to Tk 173.43 crore.
