Cost of Dhaka-Sylhet 4 lane highway to increase by Tk 40.8 billion

The cost of Dhaka-Sylhet four-lane highway increased to Tk40.8 billion for land acquisition and utility transfer.
The Department of Roads and Highways is implementing the project. The cost of the project was originally approved at Tk38.8 billion. The new project cost has been estimated at Tk40.79 billion.

Along with this, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) at its meeting on Tuesday has approved 10 projects at a cost of around Tk88 billion. Of this, government would finance Tk85 billion and the remaining Tk 3 billion will come from development assistance.

The approval was given at a meeting of ECNEC held at the NEC conference room in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar on Tuesday (February 22) under the chairmanship of Prime Minister and ECNEC Chairperson Sheikh Hasina. After the ECNEC meeting, Planning Minister MA Mannan summarized the project.

The original approved project was scheduled to be implemented from September 2017 to December 2020. Expenditure increase was later extended to December 2021. In addition to the increase in cost, the duration of the project was extended to December 2023.

Project area: Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Kishoreganj, Brahmanbaria, Habiganj, Moulvibazar and Sylhet districts.
Objectives of the project: To acquire land and transfer utilities to upgrade Dhaka (Kanchpur) -Sylhet-Tamabil highway to 4 lanes with separate service lanes on both sides. Main Activities: Acquisition of 1,389 acres of land, transfer of utilities, purchase of consultancy services for 1,623 people and construction of 3,246 boundary pillars.
Reasons for major amendments: Increase in land size and cost due to new land acquisition policy and revision of road alignment, increase in expenditure on utility transfer.