Crores spent, plans abandoned: Why govt scrapped notable projects last fiscal

The authorities scrapped 29 projects without completion in the last fiscal year after spending nearly Tk6,755 crore.

These projects, under 12 ministries and divisions, had a total approved cost of Tk12,433 crore, according to the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division's (IMED) Annual Development Programme (ADP) implementation progress review report for FY2024-25, published on Monday (12 January).

Among the 29 is the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Space Observation Centre project.

According to IMED and Planning Commission data, the government undertook the project to create facilities for space observation at the intersection of the Tropic of Cancer and the 90-degree east longitude in Bhanga, Faridpur, and to promote scientific research. 

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the project in 2021 at Tk213 crore, with completion scheduled for June 2024.

29 projects scrapped after spending Tk6,755cr

After spending about Tk6.64 crore, the implementing agency, the National Museum of Science and Technology, declared the project closed.

Officials at the science and technology ministry said the project proposal had been prepared and approved hastily, resulting in errors and shortcomings, and also called the survey weak. 

Under the current design, the project would not deliver any benefit and achieving meaningful outcomes would require several times more funding. 

For these reasons, the authorities decided to declare the project closed.

Another cancelled project, Modernisation of River Ports at Paturia and Daulatdia with Ancillary Facilities, received Ecnec approval in 2020 for implementation from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2024.

The project cost was estimated at Tk1,351.70 crore. After about Tk79.87 crore being spent on it, the project was cancelled.

Land acquisition complications emerged as a major obstacle. 

The funds earmarked for land acquisition in the DPP (development project proposal) fell short of the final estimate by Tk15.89 crore, making it impossible to begin land acquisition without revising the DPP. As a result, the project's main construction work effectively came to a standstill.

In addition, the cost of riverbank protection, one of the project's key components, rose abnormally. 

Due to morphological changes in the river, frequent shifts in the bank line and rising prices of construction materials, the cost of bank protection increased from Tk680 crore to Tk2,106 crore. As this cost did not align with the approved DPP, project implementation became even more complicated.

The project also faced major challenges from a technical perspective. 

Experts from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) said the Daulatdia end was a highly risky area, making it impossible to finalise a bank protection design based on previous data. 

Collecting new data and redesigning would require at least two years, which was incompatible with the project timeline. 

For all these reasons, the shipping ministry decided to cancel the project, according to sources.

IMED sources said that in 2017, the erstwhile government initiated a project to build six TV stations in six divisional cities outside Dhaka and Chattogram at a cost of Tk1,391 crore. 

The project proposed borrowing Tk988.55 crore from China. 

However, after coming to power, the current interim government cancelled the project, citing a lack of priority.