DHAKA, July 11, 2017 (BSS)-The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved a project for construction of elevated expressway from Lalkhan Bazar to Shah Amanat Airport in the port city Chittagong at a cost of Taka 3,250.84 crore.
The approval came from an ECNEC meeting held at the NEC conference room in the city today with ECNEC Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said while briefing journalists the ECNEC meeting approved a total of nine projects involving Taka 6, 393.18 crore.
Of the total cost, Taka 5,900.73 crore will come from the government exchequer, Taka 430.42 crore from project assistance while Taka 57.03 crore will come from the own fund of the organizations concerned, said Kamal.
He said the 16.05 kilometers long expressway will create smooth communication system between Chittagong city and its southern part which will ease traffic jam in the port city. Taka 3,250.84 crore will be spent for the construction of the expressway and the government will bear the entire cost for the project, he added.
The project will be implemented from July 2017 to June 2020, he added.
Kamal said the Prime Minister sent back a project relating to Jagannath University and she asked the authorities concerned to take up a comprehensive plan for the development of the university. The Prime Minister also asked them to find out land within the next seven days.
He said the rate of ADP implementation in the just outgoing fiscal year (2016-17) was higher compared to other fiscal years in the past.
Other projects are Panchdona-Danga-Ghorashal Rasak Unnayan Islampur Kheyaghat Project (Taka 865.45 crore), water supply and environmental sanitation system development project in three municipalities in Jamalpur district (Taka76.85 crore), Bangladesh Power System Reliability and Efficiency Improvement Project (Taka 579.95 crore), re-excavation of Arial Khan river, Haridoa river, Brahmaputra river, Paharia river, branches of Meghna and old Brahmaputra rivers (Taka 500.28 crore), protection and development of Simanta river (Taka 466.59 crore), Agricultural Census 2018 project (Taka 338.98 crore), construction of Paikgachha Agricultural College in Khulna (Taka 101.56 crore), improving the capacity of the Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet, Dinajpur and Rangpur (Taka 212.68 crore).