The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Sunday gave nod to the project designed upgrade 25 low-capacity substations of the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) located in industrial belt at an estimated cost of Tk 1,818 crore.
At a meeting of committee, held at the NEC Conference Room in the capital with Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus in the chair, approved 11 development projects with a total outlay of Tk 9,361.92 crore,
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud said the day’s approvals include five new projects, three revised ones, and three others that received extensions of their implementation period without any increase in cost.
Of the total approved amount, the government will provide Tk 6,677 crore, development partners will contribute Tk 2,428.04 crore, and the remaining Tk 256.89 crore will come from the implementing agencies’ own funds.
The BREB project will focus on modernising existing 33/11 KV outdoor substations in several industrial zones across the country. The initiative will be executed by the Power Division and is scheduled to be completed by June 2029.
Under this project, Tk 479.98 crore will be sourced from the government, Tk 1,080.67 crore will be provided by German development bank KfW, and Tk 257.35 crore will be financed by BREB itself.
The modernisation effort will cover 25 outdated substations across 20 upazilas in 14 districts. The project also includes the construction and upgrading of 625 kilometres of power lines.
Once completed, the project is expected to increase BREB’s power distribution capacity by 418 MVA. It is also projected to reduce system losses in the project areas from 6.62 percent to 5.82 percent, and improve the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI), bringing it down from 332 minutes to 300 minutes.
Among the other projects approved during the meeting is a Tk 143 crore initiative to promote sustainable agricultural development in the Rangpur region through the expansion of modern technology. The establishment of Rabindra University, Bangladesh, was also approved at a cost of Tk 519.15 crore. Additionally, a revised project to establish burn and plastic surgery units at five medical college hospitals in Sylhet, Barishal, Rangpur, Rajshahi, and Faridpur will now include an additional allocation of Tk 360.11 crore.
The government also greenlit a Tk 774.59 crore project to construct residential flats for government employees at the Azimpur Government Colony in Dhaka. A Tk 65.12 crore project was approved for the construction of two residential buildings for officials and staff of the Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defence.
Another major revision came in the form of the third amendment to the Dhaka Environmentally Sustainable Water Supply Project, which received an additional Tk 2,826.55 crore. A project aimed at expanding and improving the water supply and sanitation system in Bandarban Pourashava and three upazila sadar areas in the Bandarban district also received a time extension without any increase in cost.
Ecnec approved the establishment of a telecommunications network at the Mirsarai Economic Zone in Chattogram, with an allocation of Tk 61.90 crore. The second phase of a project to construct mini stadiums at the upazila level was also revised, raising the cost to Tk 2,855.42 crore.
In addition to these approvals, the meeting was informed about nine projects that had previously received the Planning Adviser’s consent.
At the press conference, the planning adviser expressed oncerns about the slow pace of Annual Development Programme (ADP) implementation as July’s performance fell below one percent. He attributed the delay to structural and administrative factors.
He pointed out that many contractors and project directors had been transferred, and replacements were yet to be appointed, leading to slow momentum in project execution.
“This is not a good sign, and it needs to be improved,” he said. “Our expectation was that the implementation pace would accelerate this year. We deliberately reduced the ADP size to make it more realistic, and now the focus must be on effective execution.”
He added that all ministries and divisions will receive instructions to fast-track their respective projects, stressing that delays would no longer be acceptable. Notably, he mentioned that the government plans to revise the ADP earlier than usual — by December or January — instead of the traditional March-April timeline.