The approval came from the 6th Ecnec meeting of the current fiscal year, held using a digital platform with Ecnec Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
The Prime Minister, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal and Planning Minister MA Mannan joined the meeting from Ganobhaban through a videoconference, while other Ecnec members were connected from NEC Bhaban.
“The meeting approved five projects placed by four ministries. The total estimated cost of the five projects is Tk 2,570.15 crore,” said MA Mannan at a press briefing.
Of the total cost, Tk 1485.13 crore will be borne from the national exchequer, while Tk 1002.42 crore will come from foreign sources and the rest Tk 82.60 crore from the own fund of Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC), he said.
The Planning Minister said three projects, out of the five, are fresh ones.
About the DPDC project, he said the project involving Tk 1454.04 crore was placed aiming to ensure the uninterrupted power supply to it clients through upgrading the system.
The DPDC will implement the project titled ‘Construction and renovation of substations, Setting up of capacitors in power system, and introduction of smart grid system’ by June 2023, according to the factsheet provided during the briefing.
The major project operations include construction of two new 132/33 KV (including 33/11 KV) substations, four 33/11 KV substations, renovation and augmentation of three existing substations, making five 33 KV AIS substations as GIS substations, introduction of smart grid system on pilot basis under the DPDC areas, procurement of 11 vehicles, and construction of15 substation bhabans.
Some 1.15 lakh new clients will get power connections under the new project.
Two other new projects are ‘Buffalo Research and Development Project’ involving Tk 63.17 crore and ‘Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Centres (11 Centres) Establishment Project’ with Tk 798.91 crore.
The two revised projects are ‘Strengthening Publicity Activities for Development of Rural Community (1st revised) Project’ with an increased cost by Tk 48 crore (original cost was Tk 59.63 crore and now it is Tk 107.36 crore), and ‘Artificial Breeding Operation Expansion and Embryo Transplantation Technology Implementation (1st revised) Project (3rd Phase)’ with a rise in the cost by Tk 206 crore (original cost was Tk 265.43 crore and now Tk 471.73 crore).
At the meeting, the Prime Minister asked the authorities concerned to create a special fund to provide financial support to the owners of movie houses through a big project to revive their hall business, if the owners want loan, said Mannan.
He said the directive came as many movie houses have been left abandoned or damaged across the country.
During the approval of the Buffalo Research project and the Artificial Breeding Operation Expansion project placed by the Fisheries and Livestock Ministry, the Prime Minister stressed the need for more research on fisheries and livestock.
While clearing IT Training and Incubation Centre project, the Prime Minister asked the ICT Division to make necessary arrangements for providing training to the youth on different languages like Chinese, Japanese and French in the proposed IT Training and Incubation Centres.