Padma barrage decision left for next govt over cost concerns

The Padma Barrage project was not placed before today's (25 January) meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, as the interim government did not want to rush approval of such a high-cost project, Planning Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud told the media after the meeting.

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He said there might be no further Ecnec meetings during the interim government's tenure, and the next elected government would review the project and decide on approval after necessary scrutiny.

Earlier, Water Development Board officials told The Business Standard that the project was expected to be tabled at today's Ecnec meeting, chaired by the chief adviser at the NEC conference room in Dhaka.

The planning commission under the current interim government rule had stepped up efforts to place the project before Ecnec. At a Project Evaluation Committee meeting on 15 January, the proposal received initial clearance and was recommended for final approval by Ecnec.

Adviser Wahiduddin said, "This is a good project, but it is extremely expensive. Total implementation would cost more than Tk50,000 crore, with Tk34,500 crore needed in the first phase."

"Cost-benefit analysis and detailed verification are essential before taking up a project of this scale," he added, citing financing sources, future budget allocations and alignment with the three-year Medium-Term Budgetary Framework.

He said several issues must be examined before building the barrage, including setting up a dedicated authority and assessing technical matters based on water availability in the Padma.

"Technical, political, geopolitical and economic issues have to be considered for any major project," he said.

Recalling the construction of the Jamuna Bridge, he said the then finance minister Saifur Rahman had imposed a surcharge to fund it, adding that financing was a key concern for him as an economist.

Padma barrage project

After more than six decades of studies and debate, the interim government moved to implement the Padma barrage project. Officials said the proposed cost was Tk50,444 crore.

The first phase, costing Tk34,608 crore, was planned from March 2026 to June 2033.

Feasibility studies identified Pangsha point in Rajbari district as the most suitable site for the 2.1km-long barrage. The project responds to reduced dry-season flows in the Padma, caused by India's Farakka Barrage upstream on the Ganges.

Bangladesh has considered a barrage since the 1960s, with the first study in 1961. Between 1960 and 2000, four pre-feasibility studies were conducted, and in 2002 WARPO recommended Thakurbari in Kushtia or Pangsha in Rajbari.

Detailed feasibility studies and engineering designs were completed between 2009 and 2016.

25 projects worth Tk45,191cr approved

Ecnec approved 25 development projects worth Tk45,191.27 crore, including 14 new schemes, six revised projects and five extensions of implementation periods.

Among them is a Tk2,459 crore project to establish a 1,000-bed Bangladesh–China Friendship Hospital to deliver advanced medical services to people in the northern region and neighbouring countries.

Adviser Wahiduddin said the scale of Chinese financing would be known only after the loan agreement is signed, adding the hospital could attract patients from neighbouring countries.

Ecnec also approved a Tk8,700 crore project under the Health Services Division to improve healthcare and nutrition services and strengthen delivery systems.

The meeting also approved a Tk 25,592.85 crore cost increase for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project. As a result, the project's total cost has risen from Tk113,093 crore to Tk138,686 crore.

'Tyranny of too many projects'

After the meeting, Adviser Wahiduddin told reporters that poor planning, inflated cost estimates and repeated delays were causing large-scale wastage of public resources.

"From the very beginning, we have faced problems in implementing development projects. In almost all cases, projects had to be sent back for scrutiny and re-examination," he said.

He said such reviews revealed scope for savings of up to Tk3,000 crore in some projects, adding that many schemes initially included excessive costs that later turned into wastage.

The adviser also pointed to the longstanding problem of managing too many projects at the same time, a situation he described as the "tyranny of too many projects".

"When a large number of projects are ongoing simultaneously, it becomes impossible to ensure proper financing and implementation at the desired pace," he said, citing clear capacity constraints.