The government has approved a revised proposal for the Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway that sought an additional fund of Tk 651 crore and a four-year time extension.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Wednesday cleared the proposal during a meeting held at the National Economic Council (NEC) conference room, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
Earlier, the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry sent the revised Development Project Proposal (DPP) to the Planning Commission seeking ECNEC’s approval.
“Today nine projects, including two revised ones, were approved. The overall estimated cost of the projects is Tk 2,665.21 crore (only additional costs of the revised projects were counted here),” said Planning Minister MA Mannan at a press briefing after the meeting.
According to the ministry, the cost of the much-awaited Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway has gone up by Tk 651 crore as the local currency has been depreciated against the US dollar.
The construction work of the project was supposed to begin in September 2017, but the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) failed to start it in five years, said Mamun Al Rashid, a member of the physical infrastructure.
“The authority did not acquire land for the project. So, the tenure of the project has been increased through the first revision,” he added.
“When the project was taken up, the dollar-taka exchange rate was Tk 80.57 but it has gone up to Tk 86, which is also the reason for increasing the project cost,” he also said.
Currently, Bangladesh Bank has set a uniform dollar-taka exchange rate at Tk 89 for interbank exchange.
According to the rescheduling of the project, it will be implemented by June 2026 and the cost of the project has been estimated at Tk 17,553 crore, he said, adding that China will give Tk 9,692 crore while Tk 7,860 crore will come from the government exchequer.
The government will bear the additional fund for the project, he added.
According to the project, a 24-km-long elevated expressway will connect Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport and Nabinagar Junction via Abdullahpur-Ashulia Bypass and Chandra Junction via EPZ.
Once the project is implemented, road communication between Dhaka and 30 northern districts will be smoother and traffic congestion will ease. Besides, traffic jams in the Abdullahpur-Ashulia-Baipail-Chandra areas will ease.
The expressway will also connect the southern and eastern districts, linking important commercial and business areas, including Gazipur and Ashulia.
Meanwhile, among the other projects that ECNEC approved were a Tk 712.62-crore project for installing smart prepayment meters in Rajshahi and Rangpur Divisions, Vision 2041: Adding small savings in poverty alleviation with Tk 149 crore, Establishment of Darul Arkam Ibtedia Madrasa and its operations with Tk 199.06 crore, Rehabilitation of 50 BG and 50 MG passenger carriages for the western zone of Bangladesh Railway with Tk 138.47 crore, Infrastructural development of Pirganj, Haragach and Badarganj Pourashavas under Rangpur with Tk 87.60 crore, Establishment of BNS Sher-e-Bangla in Patuakhali, 1st revised with an additional cost of Tk 196.73 crore, South Asian Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Integrated Trade Facilitation Sector Development Project: Bangladesh Land Port Authority (BLPA) Part with Tk 217 crore, and South Asian Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Integrated Trade Facilitation Sector Development Project with Tk 313 crore.
