The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) today approved 12 development projects with a total outlay of Tk 7,150.21 crore, all to be funded from the government’s own resources.
The approval came at the fifth ECNEC meeting of the current fiscal year (FY26), held at the NEC Conference Room on the Planning Commission premises, with Chief Adviser and ECNEC Chairperson Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus in the chair.
According to a Planning Ministry press release, eight of the approved projects are new, two are revised, and two others have received extensions of time without any cost increase.
Among the projects approved are rural infrastructure schemes in Manikganj and Satkhira districts under the Local Government Division, costing Tk 450 crore and Tk 1,930 crore respectively. The Ministry of Agriculture will implement a Tk 164.94 crore project to improve minor irrigation systems in the haor areas of Kishoreganj and Netrokona.
Under the Ministry of Education, Tk 567.29 crore has been allocated for infrastructure development of Gazipur Agricultural University, while the project for establishing engineering colleges in Chattogram, Khulna, Rajshahi and Rangpur has been revised with an additional Tk 394.84 crore.
The Ministry of Liberation War Affairs will continue work on the third phase of the Independence Monument at Suhrawardy Udyan, while the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare received approval for three projects, including essential family planning and health service programmes, worth a combined Tk 1,758.35 crore.
The Ministry of Defence will implement a Tk 177.80 crore project to construct officers’ residential buildings in Dhaka Cantonment. The Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges received approval for a revised and time-extended project for the construction of Kalia Bridge over the Nabaganga River.
Additionally, the Ministry of Industries’ BSCIC Industrial Park project in Tangail has been revised with an additional Tk 39.43 crore.
The meeting was also briefed on nine other projects previously approved by the Planning Adviser.
The meeting was attended by Planning Adviser Dr. Wahiduddin Mahmud; Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed; Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs and Expatriates’ Welfare Adviser Dr. Asif Nazrul; Home Affairs and Agriculture Adviser Lieutenant General Md. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury (Retd); Industries and Housing Adviser Adilur Rahman Khan; Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, Road Transport and Bridges, and Railways Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan; Environment and Water Resources Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan; Health Adviser Nurjahan Begum; Disaster Management Adviser Farooq E Azam, Bir Pratik; and Education Adviser Professor Dr. Chowdhury Rafiqul Abrar, among others. Senior officials from various ministries were also present.