Transmission lines get costlier

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) yesterday approved a revised project with a 46-percent increase in the estimated cost to set up transmission lines to import electricity from India.
The project "Grid interconnection between Bangladesh (Bheramara) and India (Baharampur)" now stands at Tk 1,580 crore which was Tk 1,079 crore before the revision.
Chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Ecnec meeting yesterday gave nod to eight development projects involving Tk 7,882 crore. The meeting was held at the NEC auditorium of the planning ministry in the capital.
On the increased budget, the power ministry told the meeting that the soaring cost of labour, construction materials and metal parts had pushed up the project cost. It also blamed devaluation of Taka against dollar for the cost rise.
The project relating to power export-import with India would be implemented under the aegis of South Asian sub-regional cooperation.
Ecnec yesterday also approved implementation of Shikalbaha 225MW Duel-Fuel Combined Cycle Power Plant on Power Development Board's land near the existing Shikalbaha Power Plant. The project is aimed at ensuring uninterrupted and reliable power supply in the Chittagong region.
Four development partners of Middle-East origin (KSA, UAE, Kuwait and OPEC) will provide Tk 1,375 crore of the total project cost of Tk 2,022 crore.
The executive committee also approved two projects worth Tk 794 crore to create large-scale employment and diversify exports in the ICT sector.
One of the projects involve providing training to 10,000 graduates on software development and to another 20,000 on information and communication technology servicing, under the supervision of Bangladesh Computer Council.
The project will also help expand the national data centre, set up a disaster recovery centre, introduce "cloud computing" and provide ICT training to government officials.
The scheme, expected to take off this year and be completed in January 2018, will cost Tk 572.48 crore, of which TK 571.97 crore will be provided by the World Bank.
The other project entails developing an IT park at Kaliakoir in Gazipur at a cost of Tk 222.36 crore. Of the total cost, the WB will give Bangladesh Tk 185.17 crore as loan while UK's Department for International Development will extend a grant of Tk 25.44 crore.
Although the IT Park had been set up between 2006 and 2010 on 232 acres of land, it is yet to become operational due to a lack of amenities, said a planning ministry official.
“The project is aimed at developing the support infrastructure of the park, such that an export-oriented IT industry can be set up through public-private partnership,” the official said.
The project is expected to be completed in June 2016.