The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday approved 11 development projects, involving Tk 8,053 crore. The approval came at an ECNEC meeting held at National Economic Council (NEC) with its Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. After the meeting, Planning Minister MA Mannan told reporters, "Of the total project cost, Tk 3,389 crore will come from the government exchequer while Tk 551 crore from the organisations' own funds and the rest of Tk 4,113 crore will come as project assistance."
The government will set up a new 330-MW power plant in Khulna in an effort to supply more electricity to the people of the southern parts of the country.
The ECNEC has also approved a project titled ‘Construction of Khulna 330MW Duel Fuel Combined Cycle Power Project (1st Revised)’. The duel-fuel combined-cycle power plant will be set up on the bank of the Bhairab river at Khalishpur in Khulna, and will be completed by June 2022 at a cost of Tk 3,919.26 crore.
Of the amount, China will finance Tk 2,370.41 crore. Tk 1,003.64 crore will come from the government exchequer while the remaining Tk 545.21 crore will be borne from the organisation’s own fund.
On the project site, several state-owned power plants were set up in 1954 on 62 acres of land. Save for two units, all of them are now defunct. The ECNEC has also approved a Tk 59-crore project to increase security measures at all the international airports of the country. Among the other projects, the ‘Chemical Warehouse Construction’ project involving Tk 91.74 crore will be constructed in Gazipur City Corporation. The construction work will be completed in June 2020. Meanwhile, another project titled ‘Water supply and sanitation for 30 municipalities in Bangladesh’ worth 1751.50 crore would be completed by June 2023.
