The 50th budget of the country focusing on the protection of human life and livelihood during the global epidemic was placed on Thursday. The amount of the proposed budget is Tk 6,03,681 crore. In this budget, the allocation to the railway sector has increased.
AHM Mustafa Kamal presented the budget of Bangladesh in the National Assembly under the theme 'Bangladesh towards a resilient future, Protecting lives and livelihood'. Ministers and MPs including Leader of the House and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Planning Minister MA Mannan were present on the occasion.
In the proposed budget for the new financial year 2021-2022 in the railway sector, an expenditure of Tk 5,53,662 crore has been earmarked for 230 projects in 8 steps, which has increased compared to last time. The proposed budget for this sector in the fiscal year 2020-2021 was Tk 16,326 crore.
As a part of the 30-year revised master plan (2016-2045) of Bangladesh Railway, Cox's Bazar, Mongla Port, Tungipara, Barisal, Chattogram Hill Tracts and other parts of the country will be brought under the railway network, and projects have been taken up to establish Padma Bridge Rail Link, Trans-Asian Railway and Regional Railway Network, and connect nearest suburbs with important cities like Dhaka, Chattogram, Rangpur, Dinajpur, Sylhet, etc by introducing improved commuter train service.
Among the major projects being implemented in the railway sector, work on about 40 percent of the Padma Bridge Rail Link project, about 57 percent of the Chattogram-Dohazari-Ghumdum railway project and about 77.75 percent of the Mongla-Khulna railway project have been completed. In addition, implementation work on the Jamuna Rail Bridge and Rupsha Rail Bridge projects is well in progress.
