Too many projects under ADP

The government is set to take up 1,993 projects under the Annual Development Programme in the upcoming fiscal year, a contradictory move after its prescription for a small number of projects.
In the draft proposal, the planning ministry said the number of projects will be kept limited for timely implementation and to ensure completion of ongoing projects.
Of the projects, 1,034 have already received allocations and 959 are awaiting approval. Some Tk 4,226 crore of block allocations have been kept for the unapproved projects.
Of the 959 unapproved projects, 683 are without allocation and will be implemented with local resources and the rest will be receiving foreign assistance.
Some 15 projects for setting up power plants by the Power Development Board have been bookmarked for foreign assistance. These include four coal-fired power plants with combined generation capacity of 4,800 megawatts at Moheshkahli. China and Malaysia may fund two of them and Asian Development Bank and Islamic Development Bank the other two.
Also in contention for foreign assistance is a 1,200-megawatt coal-fired plant in Matarbari; its estimated cost would be Tk 40,320 crore and Japan International Cooperation Agency will likely provide Tk 29,000 crore.
Moreover, some 17 public-private partnership projects including the Dhaka-Chittagong Expressway and a flyover from Shantinagar to Mawa Road are due to receive foreign assistance.

The planning ministry will place the proposed ADP of Tk 79,031 crore today at a meeting of the National Economic Council, which is 32 percent more than the current fiscal year's revised one.
The transport sector will receive the highest allocation of Tk 18,098 crore, which is 22.90 percent of the total ADP.
Besides, autonomous bodies will implement 153 projects worth Tk 5,685 crore with their own financing.