The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday approved a total of 11 development projects involving  Tk 5,826 crore.

The approval came at the Ecnec meeting held at the NEC Conference Room here. Ecnec Chair and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the meeting who joined it virtually from her official residence Ganobhban.

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“Today we endorsed 11 projects including three revised ones. The overall estimated cost of the projects is Tk 5,825.75 crore (additional costs of the revised projects were counted here),” said Planning Minister MA Mannan at a press briefing after the meeting.

Of the total cost, Tk 3,963.38 crore will be financed from the government’s fund, while Tk 1,220.46 will come from the funds of the organisations concerned and the rest Tk 641.90 crore from foreign sources. 

Among the projects, Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry placed three projects; two others by the LGRD and Cooperatives Ministry, and the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry each; and one each by the Shipping Ministry, the Home Ministry, the Education Ministry and the Posts, Telecommunications Ministry and IT Ministry.

In terms of the cost, three largest fresh projects are Improvement of Sherpur (Kanasakhola) -Bhimganj-Narayankhola-Paranganj-Mymensingh (Rahmatpur) Road project with Tk 1,842 crore; Establishment of Sheikh Kamal IT Training Incubation Centers (14 ones) with Tk 1,115 crore; and Renovation and Modernization of Existing 33/11kv Wooden Pole Mounted Substations in BREB (Phase-1) project involving with estimated cost of Tk 680 crore.

The five other new projects include Implementation of Smart Distribution System in NESCO area with Tk 241 crore; Establishment of Sheikh Zahurul Haque Rural Development Academy, Jashore project with Tk 199 crore; Navigability improvement and restoration of Ghorautra and Bolai-Srigang rivers Mithamin Upazila, Dhanu and Namakura rivers in Itna Upazila, and Dhaleshwari River in Ashtagram Upazila under Kishoreganj with Tk 342 crore.

Also read: Ecnec cleared 12 projects involving Tk 12,017cr

Construction of Ansar and VDP Armories (40 ones in 1st phase) project with Tk 65 crore; and Improvement of Hili (land port)-Dugdugi-Ghoraghat national highway, reconstruction of existing narrow or dilapidated culverts of 3 important roads and construction of rigid pavement and drainage for the roads in the market areas in Dinajpur project with Tk 464 crore.

Three revised projects are Installation of Single Point Mooring (SPM) with Double Pipeline (3rd revised) project with the additional cost of Tk 556 crore (the cost now stands at Tk 7,125 crore from Tk 6568 crore in the 2nd revision); Local Government Initiative on Climate Change (LoGIC) (1st revised) project with additional cost of Tk 137 crore (the cost increased to Tk 304 crore from Tk 167 crore in original layout); and Establishment of one Technical School and College in 100 Upazilas (2nd revised) project with the additional cost of Tk 184 crore (the cost rose to Tk 2,520 crore from Tk 2,336 crore in the 1st revision).