Costs treble for 8 revised projects
The Ecnec yesterday approved eight revised projects with the cost increasing three times compared to the original estimate.
The projects' cost increased to Tk 6,416 crore from Tk 2,008 crore, according to the planning ministry documents.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attended the meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) in the planning ministry's Agargaon office.
The meeting approved 11 projects in total, all funded by the government.
An increase in work volume has caused the project cost to rise, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said after the meeting.
The ministry and divisions made no mistake in the planning of the projects, which could be blamed for the rise, he said.
He gave an example of a 20-kilometre road, which was later increased in length to 38 km, as part of efforts to connect a growth centre and widening of the narrow sections.
On why road construction cost per km is higher compared to that in other countries, Kamal said the country's roads were full of potholes and the earth required to fill those had to be brought from far away, which pushes up the cost.
One of the approved projects on the construction of long bridges at upazilas and unions was revised for a third time. The project would now cost Tk 2,287 crore, up from Tk 628 crore.
It was first approved in March 2010 and scheduled to be complete by 2013. It was revised again in April 2012 with the cost raised to Tk 1,406 crore while completion date set at June 2020.
The planning ministry proposal said increased land acquisition, extension of time frame and rate schedule pushed up the cost.
Cost of two other projects on Greater Faridpur Grameen Infrastructure Development rose threefold, one from Tk 417 crore to Tk 1,489 crore and another from Tk 553 crore to Tk 1,709 crore.
Another project over the construction of a building for the National Board of Revenue saw the cost to rise from Tk 141 crore to Tk 495 crore. Kamal said the prime minister had pointed out that the building scheduled to have 20 storeys should not have more than 12 storeys because of its closeness with Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital.
The other three new projects okayed were on the construction of 288 flats at Tk 290 crore for government officials in Mirpur, a Tk 495 crore headquarter of the Rapid Action Battalion and a Tk 219 crore training academy for air force troops in Chittagong.