Staff Reporter:
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) yesterday approved eight devel-opment projects with an estimated cost of Tk 2,266.41 crore.
The approval came from the 12th ECNEC meeting of the current fiscal year (FY26) held at the Cabinet Division Conference Room at Bangladesh Secretariat here with ECNEC Chairperson and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in the chair.
Of the total project cost, Tk 2,229.13 crore will be financed from the government’s own resources, while the remaining Tk 37.28 crore will come from the implementing agencies’ own funds.
Among the approved projects, three are new, three are revised and two have received tenure extensions.
According to the Ministry of Planning, the approved projects cover a wide range of sectors, including water resources, transportation, public administration, health, defence, education and energy.
In the water resources sector, ECNEC approved the maintenance and rehabilitation of the Barisal Irriga-tion Project (Phase-1).
In the road transport sector, approval was given for upgrading the Anwara–Banshkhali–Toitong–Pekua–Badarkhali–Chakaria (Eidmoni) Regional Highway (R-170) (from Kalabibir Dighi to Eidmoni) to Prop-er Standards and Width.
A public administration project involving the installation of lifts at circuit houses in 33 districts and at the Deputy Commissioner’s office in Thakurgaon was also cleared.
In the health sector, ECNEC approved the expansion project of Bangladesh Shishu Hospital and Institute under Project-2.
The committee also approved the first revised phase of the project for constructing a cancer centre at Combined Military Hospital Dhaka.
The education sector received approval for two revised projects.
These include continued support for the Madrasa Education Management and Information System (MEMIS) and the establishment of multimedia classrooms in 653 madrasas across the country.
In the power and energy sector, ECNEC approved a revised project aimed at enhancing the capacity of existing grid substations and transmission lines to improve electricity transmission and distribution ser-vices.
Planning officials also informed the meeting about six additional projects, each involving less than Tk 50 crore, which had already been approved by the Planning Minister.
These projects include water supply and sanitation facilities in 30 municipalities, waste management and traffic congestion mitigation initiatives under Dhaka South City Corporation, expansion of postal ser-vices, infrastructure development for the MES Training Cell in Dhaka Cantonment, the second phase of a project aimed at ending child marriage, and the establishment of Paikgacha Agriculture College in Khulna.
The meeting was attended by Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury; LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir; Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud; Agriculture, Fisheries and Livestock Minister Mohammed Aminur Rashid ; Indus-tries, Textiles and Jute, and Commerce Minister Khandakar Abdul Muqtadir; Road Transport and Bridg-es, Railways and Shipping Minister Sheikh Robiul Alam; Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md. Sakhawat Hossain; Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed; Housing and Public Works Minister Zakaria Taher; Land Minister Md. Mizanur Rahman Minu; Education and Primary and Mass Education Minister Dr. A.N.M. Ehsanul Haque Milon; Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee; State Min-ister for Public Administration and Food Md. Abdul Bari; State Minister for Planning Zonayed Abdur Rahim Saki; and other senior government officials.
