ECNEC meeting approves 13 projects worth Tk 1,988 crore

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has approved 13 projects. The total cost of these projects is estimated at Tk 1,988 crore. However, the proposed ‘Climate Resilient Living Standards Improvement Project’ (CRLEP) to build a climate-resilient standard of living in the haor and drought-prone Barendra regions did not get approval in the ECNEC meeting.

The meeting was held at the NEC conference room on the Planning Commission premises in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital on Tuesday (October 21) under the chairmanship of Chief Advisor Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus.

Of the approved projects, government funding is Tk 1,885.7 crore, project loans are Tk 532.2 crore and the organization’s own funding is Tk 50 crore. Out of these, three are new projects, seven are revised projects and three are projects with extension of period without increase in cost. The Planning Advisor did not hold a press conference after the meeting due to illness.

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Present in the meeting were Planning Advisor Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud, Legal Advisor Dr. Asif Nazrul, Home and Agriculture Advisor Lt. Gen. (Retd.) Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Industry Advisor Adilur Rahman Khan, Power and Bridges Advisor Muhammad Fawzul Kabir Khan, Local Government Advisor Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, Health Advisor Nurjahan Begum, Liberation War Affairs Advisor Faruk-e-Azam and Foreign Affairs Advisor Md. Touhid Hossain.

The 13 approved projects are

Ministry of Agriculture: ‘PRO-ACT Bangladesh: Resilience Strengthening through Agri-Food Systems Transformation in Cox’s Bazar’ project.

Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief: Herringbone Bond (HBB) for the purpose of sustainability of rural dirt roads (2nd phase) (proposed 3rd amendment).

Ministry of Rural Development and Cooperatives (3):

Khulna Division Rural Infrastructure Development Project (3rd amendment).

Jamalpur City Urban Architecture Renovation and Cultural Center Development Project (3rd amendment).

Construction of internal roads, sewers and sidewalks in Zones 01 to 05 of Gazipur City Corporation (3rd amendment).

Ministry of Housing and Public Works: Uttara Lake Development (1st amendment) Project.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs: Bangladesh Chancery Building Construction Project in Canberra, Australia.

Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges: Upgrading of Kishoreganj (Binnati)-Pakundia-Mirzapur Tok District Highway to the appropriate standard (1st revised) project.

Ministry of Industries: Expansion and modernization of BSTI's physical and chemical testing laboratory project.

Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources: Ghorashal 3rd Unit Re-powering Project (2nd revised).

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare: Project to convert Mental Hospital, Pabna into an international standard mental health institute and hospital.

Ministry of Railways (2):

Rehabilitation and quality improvement of level crossing gates in the western zone of Bangladesh Railway (4th revised) project.

Rehabilitation and quality improvement of level crossing gates in the eastern zone of Bangladesh Railway (5th revised) project.