The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved nine projects worth Tk 19,844.57 crore, including a mega project for widening Dhaka-Sylhet highway into four-lane with Tk 16,918.58 crore.
The South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) Dhaka-Sylhet Corridor Road Development project will ensure overall economic development by improving regional road connectivity.
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will provide $13,244.68 crore out of the total cost of the project as a loan for upgrading Dhaka-Sylhet highway into four-lane, aimed at making the road suitable for regional connectivity as well as cross-border and regional trade.
The remaining Tk 3,674 crore will be met from the government funds.
The approval came at the Ecnec meeting held virtually with Ecnec Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair on Tuesday.
The Premier chaired the meeting from her official Ganabhaban residence while ministers, state ministers, secretaries and other officials concerned joined the meeting from the NEC conference room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Planning Minister MA Mannan said, “A total of nine projects were approved today (Tuesday) involving an estimated cost of Tk 19,844.57 crore.”
“Of the total project cost, Tk 6,599.88 crore will come from the government while the rest of Tk 13,244.69 crore as foreign assistance loan,” he added.
Mannan said, “By implementing the project, titled- “SASEC Dhaka-Sylhet Corridor Road Development,” it will improve the country’s road connectivity with Nepal, India, Myanmar and China. It’s very important that we look towards the East internationally.”
Attending to a question, the Planning Minister said that the economic return of SASEC project will be huge and each affected people for the project will get compensation.
He hoped that the project cost would be realized within 15 years after the start of collecting tolls.
Replying to another question, Planning Commission member Mamun Al Rashid said that the per cubic meter construction cost under the SASEC corridor project would be less than the cost under Elenga-Katikumrul highway development project.
The Roads and Highways Department under the Road Transport and Highways Division will implement the SASEC corridor project by December 2026.
Of the approved eight projects, six are new while three are revised projects.
Under the Dhaka-Sylhet four-lane project, separate service lanes will be constructed on both sides of the main road for slow moving traffic.
A speed limit of 80 km per hour will be ensured considering the maximum traffic including simplification of turns. Important regional road networks, including Asia Highway Network, Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi Sectoral Technical and Economic Co-operation (BIMSTEC) Corridor, South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) Corridor will be ensured.
Once the project is implemented, the road transport network of the country will be linked with the Asian highway network, BIMSTEC corridor, SAARC corridor, and regional road network.
The main objectives of the project are to upgrade the 209.328 KM Dhaka-Sylhet highway into four-lane alongside two service lanes on both sides of the highway for slow moving vehicles, straitening the existing curves of the highway, building necessary U-loops, intersections, and thus ensuring speedy and uninterrupted vehicular movement.
The main project operations include 245.42 lakh cubic meter of earth work, 72.73 lakh cubic meter flexible pavement, 2.92 lakh cubic meter flexible concrete pavement on service lanes, construction of 305 culverts, 66 bridges, seven flyovers, six railways over bridges, 26 foot over bridges.
