The approval came from the weekly Ecnec meeting held at NEC conference room here with Ecnec Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said, "Twenty-four projects were approved today involving an overall cost of Tk 24,740.66 crore."

Of the total estimated cost, he said, Tk 19,361.96 crore will come from the national exchequer, while Tk 5,072.66 crore as project assistance and Tk 306.04 crore from the own funds of the organisations concerned.

Nineteen of the projects are new while five others are revised ones.

About the polytechnic institute project, the minister said the Technical and Madrasah Education Division will implement the ‘Establishment of Polytechnic Institutes in 23 Districts Project’ by June 2021 with an estimated cost of Tk 3,691.30 crore.

He said the polytechnic institutes will be set up in the 23 districts where there is no government polytechnic institute now.

Mustafa Kamal said there are now 49 polytechnic institutes, including four exclusively for women, across the country but there is no polytechnic institute in 23 districts.

Besides, Ecnec cleared a multi-sector project with an estimated cost of Tk 1,057.84 crore to face Rohingya crisis on an emergency basis.

The major part of its finance will come as foreign assistance as the World Bank will provide Tk 1048.28 crore, while the rest of the money, amounting to Tk 9.56 crore, will come from the national exchequer. The project will be implemented by November 2021.

The main activities under the project include setting up 23 new cyclone shelter centres, 30 multipurpose community services centres, development of 203.50-kilometres of roads, strengthening and widening 17.15 kilometres of roads, and construction of a number of footpaths, drains, bridges and culverts.

The other 22 projects approved at the meeting include ‘Construction of dual gauge rail line from Bagura to Shaheed M Monsur Ali Station, Sirajganj project’ with an estimated cost of Tk 5,579.70 crore; ‘Construction of new rail line from Iswardi to Pabna (2nd revised) project’ with Tk 1,737.18 crore; ‘Construction of internal roads, drains and footpaths of 1-5 zones of Gazipur City Corporation’ with Tk 1,510 crore; ‘Development of telecommunication and ICT infrastructure, human resources and technical capacity of DGFI project’ with Tk 1,272.29 crore; ‘Widening Madani Avenue-Balu River Road (Major Road-5) and construction of Balu River-Shitalakkhya River road (Major Road-5) (Ist Phase) project’ with Tk 1,259.89 crore.

The projects also include ‘Construction of 20-storey new office Bhaban at Bangladesh Secretariat project’ involving Tk 420.98 crore; ‘Construction of 3rd Karnaphuli Bridge (3rd phase) project’ with Tk 797.94 crore; ‘Construction of link road from Rajuk Purbachal 300 feet of highway to Madani avenue-Sylhet highway’ with Tk 456.72 crore; Development and extension of physical infrastructure of the Bangladesh Post Office project’ with Tk 479.86 crore; Protection and development of graveyards of Shaheed freedom fighters and other war heroes (1st phase) project’ with Tk 460.98 crore; ‘Construction of nine residential bhabans for Bangladesh Police in different areas of Bangladesh project’ with Tk 927.35 crore; and ‘National Academy for Autism and Neurodevelopment Disabilities (NAAND) (2nd revised) project’ with Tk 422.34 crore.

The project also include ‘Establishment of permanent campus of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Maritime University project’ with Tk 1,183.97 crore; ‘Construction of Bangabandhu Military Museum (1st revised) project’ with Tk 655.76 crore; ‘Establishment of nine government secondary schools project’ with Tk 435 crore; ‘Construction of BNA Bangabandhu Complex, Patenga, Chattogram project’ with Tk 358.53 crore; and Smallholder agricultural competitiveness (SACP) project’ with Tk 780.33 crore.

The rest of the projects are ‘Strengthening activities of the agriculture training institutes project’ with Tk 117.57 crore; ‘BSCIC Chemical Palli, Dhaka project’ with Tk 201.81 crore, Strengthening and modernizing Gazi Wires  Ltd project with Tk 68.98 crore; ‘Construction and Development of damaged roads, drains and footpaths in different areas of Dhaka North City Corporation project’ with Tk 694.41 crore; and ‘Conducting feasibility study for 500-600 megawatt LNG based combined cycle power plant and construction gas supply line project’ with Tk 169.93 crore.