ECNEC approves 13 projects worth Tk 8,333cr

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Wednesday approved 13 development projects involving an estimated cost of Tk 8,333.28 crore.

Of the total, Tk 4,437.82 crore will come from the government exchequer, Tk 1,225.36 crore from foreign loans, and Tk 2,670.09 crore from the agencies’ own funds.

The approval was given at a meeting held at the NEC Conference Room in the capital’s Agargaon, with ECNEC Chairperson and Chief Adviser Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus presiding.

Of the approved schemes, seven are new, five are revised, and one was granted a time extension without an increase in cost. Planning Adviser Wahid Uddin Mahmud, Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed, Home Affairs Adviser Lt Gen (retd) Md Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Foreign Affairs Adviser Md Touhid Hossain, Liberation War Affairs Adviser Faruk E Azam, Education Adviser Prof Dr Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar, Industries Adviser Adilur Rahman Khan, Energy Adviser Muhammad Faozul Kabir Khan, Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan and senior officials attended the meeting.

The approved projects include initiatives under several ministries. The Women and Children Affairs Ministry will implement the “Tathya Apa – Empowering Women Through ICT (Phase II, 3rd Revised)” project. The Education Ministry will work on enhancing and modernising research facilities and infrastructure at Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology (DUET), Gazipur.

Under the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry, three schemes were cleared—procurement of a 2,000-horsepower drilling rig; drilling of four development wells at Shahbazpur-5, 7 and Bhola North-3, 4 along with one exploration well at Shahbazpur North-East-1; and development of network infrastructure and modernisation of the electricity distribution system in NESCO areas.

Other projects cover the construction of multipurpose cyclone shelters in coastal areas, expansion of Sylhet Osmani International Airport, housing facilities for government officials in Dhaka’s Mirpur, and water supply and waste management initiatives under the Local Government Ministry.