Home ›› 24 Nov 2021 ›› Front
The government has approved a total of 10 projects including establishing digital connectivity and construction of elevated roads in haor areas worth Tk 5,883 crore and Tk 3,490 crore respectively.
The approval came at the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting held at the National Economic Council (NEC) conference room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar on Tuesday.
Prime Minister and ECNEC Chairperson Sheikh Hasina chaired the meeting and joined virtually from her official residence Gono Bhaban.
After the meeting, Planning Minister MA Mannan told reporters that a total of 10 projects were approved in the ECNEC involving an overall estimated cost of Tk 29,344.27 crore.
“Tk 11,003.30 crore will come from the government exchequer while Tk 18,932.04 crore as project assistance,” he said.
Of the approved 10 projects, seven are new while three are revised projects.
According to the Planning Minister, the Department of Information and Communication Technology under the ICT Division will establish 10,000 ‘Sheikh Russel Digital Labs’ to improve Bangladesh’s information and communications technology infrastructure.
The implementing agency would implement the project by June 2025.
Of the total project cost, Tk 2,505.16 crore will come from the Bangladesh government while the rest of Tk 3,378.58 crore as project assistance from China.
Under the project, the government will establish 1,09,244 broadband, 57 specialised labs, a central cloud platform and frontier technology centre of excellence, 10 digital village stations, IT infrastructure in district and upazila complexes and training facilities.
The project aims to bring eight divisions, 64 districts, upazilas, unions and villages under the new IT infrastructure. It also aims to make ICT services quickly accessible to people.
Besides, 10 digital villages, around 492 non-residential buildings, 491 upazila complexes will be expanded upward by one storey.
Field surveys will be conducted under 10 digital village stations, and 20,000 farmers will be provided with ‘Smart Sensor Devices’.
Besides, a 21-storey’ DoICT Tower’ will be built in Purbachal to house an academy featuring modern ICT labs and facilities to nourish IT entrepreneurs.
Mannan said the ECNEC has also approved a mega project for the construction of a 10-kilometre-long elevated road in the haor (wetlands) areas of Sunamganj and Netrokona districts.
Under the project, elevated roads along with bridges, culverts and other necessary infrastructures will be constructed in five upazilas of the two districts to ensure smooth and modern transportation system in the wetland areas, he added.
The project areas will cover a vast vicinity of Dharmapasha, Tahirpur, Bishamvarpur and Jamalganj upazilas of Sunamganj district and also Barhatta upazila of Netrokona district.
The project cost has been estimated at Tk 3,490 crore, which will solely come from the government exchequer. The Local Government and Engineering Department will implement the project by June 2025.
Meanwhile, the ECNEC approved an additional cost involving Tk 15,870.42 crore in the Matarbari 2X600 megawatt ultra-super critical coal-fired power plant.
Planning Commission member Sharifa Khan said the additional cost would used to ensure deep seaport facilities. The power plant is expected to go into operation in 2024, she added.
The other projects approved in the meeting include modernisation of Bangladesh Marine Academy through infrastructure restructuring with Tk 114.97 crore, upgrading Aricha (Borangail)-Gheor-Daulatpur-Nagarpur-Tangail regional highway into due standard and width with Tk 1,635.10 crore, widening and development of National Highway in the portion of Narail town with Tk 179.99 crore, Rural Transport Improvement Project-II (3rd revised with no additional cost involvement), development of important rural infrastructure at Sylhet Division (1st revised with an additional cost of Tk 239.93 crore), rehabilitation of polder No-14/1 in Khulna district with Tk 1,172.31 crore, and disaster risk management extension (component-1, BWDB portion) with Tk 757.81 crore.
