The government has conceptualized and is pushing seven mega projects to showcase its development record and to use it as a lever to prop up economic growth.
Huge spending on seven mega projects is tantamount to a key focus area of the government as these mega ventures have been given the highest priorities in the upcoming budget for financial year 2020-21 for accelerating the implementation process of these ‘fast-track’ projects.
The mega projects identified as top-level priorities are Padma Multipurpose Bridge, Padma Bridge Rail link, Dohazari-Cox’s Bazar-Gundum Rail Line, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Matarbari Power Plant, Metro Rail and Payra Sea Port.
The government has approved the Annual Development Programme (ADP) worth Tk 205,145 crore (Tk 2.05 trillion) for the next fiscal year giving the highest priorities to 7 mega projects, said officials of the Planning Ministry on Wednesday.
Among them, a total of Tk 34,266 crore has been allocated in the development budget for seven mega projects, they added.
However, they said the Ministry of Planning will allocate fund for these mega projects as per the demand of the authorities concerned.
A senior official of the Finance Ministry said amid the mounting human tolls and global economic fallout triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, timely completion of mega projects of Bangladesh will set the stage for stimulating the country’s economy.
Keeping this in mind, the government has given more importance to completing these mega projects within the stipulated time as it can play a vital role to recover the economy fallouts in the country, he added.
According to the Planning Commission, among the allocations for the mega projects, the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project got the highest allocation with Tk 15,691 crore while the Payra Deep Sea Port project got the lowest with Tk 350 crore.
Besides, the construction of single line dual gauge rail track from Dohazari to Cox’s Bazar via Ramu then Ghumdum near Myanmar got an allocation of Tk 1,500 crore. A total of Taka 5,000 crore will go the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project, Tk 4,370 crore to the Metro Rail (MRT Line 6) Project, Tk 3,685 crore to the Padma Bridge Rail Link Project and Tk 3,670 crore to the Matarbari Ultra Super Critical coal-fired power plant project.
About the matter, Planning Minister MA Mannan said the government wants to complete such important projects like the Padma Bridge and the Metro Rail as these mega projects would play a vital role to stimulate the country’s economy after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The government is committed to start the operation of the Padma Bridge and complete the Metro Rail project, he added.
Of the total ADP of Tk 205,145 crore, an amount of Tk 134,643 crore will come from internal sources while Tk 70,502 from foreign sources, he informed.
Of the Tk 9,466 crore of the autonomous entities, the internal sources will provide Tk 5,578 crore while the foreign portion will be Tk 3,888 crore.
He said the number of the total development projects for the next fiscal year will be 1673, including 89 projects for autonomous entities.
World Bank former lead economist Zahid Hussain said mega projects should be completed in a quicker pace as it can play a positive role for the country’s economical development after the Coronavirus pandemic.