ECNEC approves 9 projects involving Tk 6,551.27

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday approved nine projects involving an overall cost of Tk 6,551.27 crore.

The approval came from the ECNEC meeting held at NEC conference room in Dhaka, with ECNEC Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

The prime minister joined the meeting virtually from her official residence Ganabhaban.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Planning Minister MA Mannan said, "A total of nine projects — five revised and four new — were placed in the meeting where all the projects were approved."

Of the overall estimated cost, Tk 3,742.29 crore will come from the government exchequer, while Tk 26 crore from the own funds of the organisations concerned, and Tk 2,782.76 crore from foreign assistance, the minister added.

Among the approved revised projects, the biggest is Dhaka WASA’s Sayedabad Water Treatment Plant Project (Phase-III) (First Revision) involving at Tk 7,518 crore, of which Tk 2,625.23 crore will come from the government exchequer and Tk 4,862.79 crore as project assistance and the remaining Tk 30 crore from the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority.

Earlier, the Local Government Division proposed an increase to the cost of the construction of the Sayedabad Water Treatment Plant Project by Tk 2,921 crore and sought an extension of the deadline by four more years.

The initial cost of the project was estimated at Tk 4,597.36 crore and the project was supposed to be completed by June 2020 which was later extended to June 2021 for the Covid pandemic.

According to the proposal, Dhaka WASA will treat 45 crore litres of water per day from the plant.

Once completed, the total capacity of the three water treatment plants including the existing two plants, Sayedabad Phase-I and Phase-II will be 90 crore litres per day.