Ecnec clears 12 projects, including one to raise cost of Padma Bridge construction

The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday approved a total of 12 development projects including a revised one to raise the cost of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Construction by Tk2412.13 crore and extend the timeframe till June 2024.

The overall estimated cost of the 12 projects is Tk19,598.84 crore. Only additional costs of four revised projects were counted here.

The approval came from the Ecnec meeting chaired by its chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the NEC conference room in the city's Sher-e Banglanagar area.

"A total of 15 projects were placed before today's meeting. Of them, 12 projects got approval and two were deferred. And the rest one got time extension only," said Planning Minister MA Mannan while briefing reporters.

Of the 12 approved projects, eight are new and the rest four are revised ones.

Among the total estimated cost, Tk13,203.66 crore will come from the foreign sources as project assistance, while Tk6,260.72 crore from the GoB fund and the rest Tk134.46 crore from the fund of an organisation concerned, said the Planning Secretary Satyajit Karmaker.

Regarding the reasons behind the rise of cost of Padma Multipurpose Bridge Construction Project, member of Physical Infrastructure Division of the Planning Commission Dr Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian said the VAT rate has risen to 15 percent now from 10 percent as well as the prices of construction materials for river trainings and the price of dollar went up.

As per the project factsheet, the main work of Padma Bridge project has already been completed. But now the revision of the project is required to complete the remaining ancillary works and the payment of contractors' dues. So, the project can be approved under this consideration, he said.

In terms of cost, the largest three new projects approved in the Ecnec meeting are "Programme on Agricultural and Rural Transformation for Nutrition, Entrepreneurship and Resilience in Bangladesh Project," involving an estimated cost of Tk6,910.94 crore;  "Bangladesh Road Safety Project" with Tk4,988.14 crore; and "Collection of 2 Crude Oil Mother Tankers and 2 Mother Bulk Carrier Ships on the basis of G2G Project" with Tk2,620.77 crore.

The agricultural (PARTNER) project will be implemented in all the unions of 495 upazilas of the country's 64 districts by June 2028, mainly for transformation of the traditional agricultural system into commercial agriculture and diversification in the food grains production.

Other major objectives of the project are development of agricultural entrepreneurs for the export of agricultural products and expansion of climate resilient agro-food value-chains.

The Bangladesh Road Safety project will be implemented in all the upazilas of the country by June 2028 in a bid to reduce road accidents and damages as well as enhance the capacity of government agencies concerned for ensuring road safety.

The other new projects are "Improving Computer and Software Engineering Tertiary Education Project (ICSETEP)" involving Tk 1,219.80 crore; "Project for Protection of Charkaua, Chandmari, Jagua, Lamchari and Charmonai Areas in Sadar Upazila of Barisal District from Kirtankhola River Erosion (Phase-1) with Tk 512.92 crore; "Establishment of Institute of Nanotechnology (in Savar) Project" with Tk 380.78 crore;  ''Building Climate Resilient Livelihoods in the Vulnerable Landscapes in Bangladesh (BCRL) Project" with Tk 76.06 crore; and "Safer Cyberspace for Digital Bangladesh: Enhancing National & Regional Digital Investigation Capability of Bangladesh Police Project" with Tk 59.08 crore.

The three other revised projects are "Construction of Dhaka-Narayanganj dual gauge railway line in parallel to the existing meter gauge railway line (1st revised) Project" with additional cost of Tk279.69 crore (now cost is Tk 658.35 crore); "Reconstruction of Mymensingh Central Jail (1st revised) Project" with extra cost of Tk112.54 crore (now the total cost increased to Tk240.15 crore); and "Reinstallation and Improvement of Level Crossing Gates of the Eastern Region of Bangladesh Railway (3rd revised) Project" with additional cost of Tk25.99 crore ( now cost is Tk130.50 crore).

In the Ecnec meeting, the prime minister directed the authorities concerned to ensure the facilities in the country's jails to run the virtual court.

She made this directive during the discussion about the first revision of Reconstruction of Mymensingh Central Jail Project.