The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday approved 11 projects involving an overall cost of Tk 13,655.98 crore including Sylhet-Charkhai-Shewla Highway Development' project at a cost of Tk 4,257.07 crore.
The ECNEC meeting was presided over by its chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the its conference room in the city's Sher-e Bangla Nagar area.
"11 projects were approved," said Planning Minister MA Mannan while briefing reporters after the meeting. Among these, seven are new projects, while the remaining four are revised projects.
Of the total estimated cost, Tk 10,526.11 crore or 77 percent of it will come from external sources as foreign loans, while the rest Tk 3,129.87 crore will come from the government own fund.
In terms of cost, the largest three fresh projects are 'Sylhet-Charkhai-Shewla Highway Development' project at a cost of Tk 4,257.07 crore; 'Accelerating Transport and Trading Connectivity in Eastern South Asia (ACCESS)-Bangladesh Phase-1 (BLPA Component)' project at a cost of Tk 3,457.15 crore; and 'Bangladesh Environmental Sustainability and Transformation (BEST)' project at a cost ofTk 2,995.88 crore.
As per project factsheet, 'Sylhet-Charkhai-Shewla Highway Development' project will be implemented covering four upazilas such as Sylhet Sadar, Dakkhin Surma, Golapganj and Beanibazar-- by December 2027.
Planning Minister MA Mannan said Bangladesh Institute of Development Research (BIDS) has been instructed to determine the contribution of women to work. From the next budget, the GDP growth will be calculated by calculating the contribution of women.
The projects approved by ECNEC are - Export Competitiveness for Jobs Project, Construction of 34 buffer warehouses in different parts of the country to facilitate storage and distribution of fertilizers and Bangladesh Environmental Sustainability and Transformation Project.
There are also Emergency Assistance Project for Reconstruction of Flood Damaged Water Supply and Sanitation System, Bangladesh Chancery Complex Construction Project in Islamabad, Pakistan, Bangladesh Land Survey Education Development Project, Accelerating Transport and Trade Connectivity in Eastern South Asia (ACCESS) Bangladesh Phase-I Project.
Planning Secretary Satyajit Karmakar, IMED Secretary Abul Kashem were present at the time. Mohiuddin, a member of the physical infrastructure division, Emdadullah Mian and secretary of the statistics and information management division Shahnaz Arefin and many others were present.
