The Tk 915 crore power distribution system development project for Rajshahi zone got nod from the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday.
The Ecnec at a meeting, chaired by its Chief Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, approved the project aimed at creating new subscribers along with reducing system loss in sixty upazilas of the northern region.
Once the project is completed, some two lakh new subscribers will get power connection and the system loss will reduce by four percent, State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan said at a press briefing following the meeting,
Besides, by 2025, another five lakh people of the zone will get electricity connection, he added. Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) will implement the project by December 2018. The government will provide Tk 880 crore as project cost and PDB will bear nearly Tk 35 crore from its own resources.
During the Ecnec meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directed authorities to make the North West Power Distribution Company Limited operational soon to improve the distribution system in this region, the meeting sources said.
The meeting approved a total of five development projects with a total outlay of Tk 1,205.50 crore of which Tk 1,170.56 crore will come from the national exchequer while Tk 34.94 crore from an implementing agency’s own fund, Mannan informed the media.
Ecnec also gave nod to ‘Construction of 20-storey Residential Shahid Sheikh Russell Tower Bhaban for the Officials of Dhaka University’ involving Tk 87.81 crore.
Under the project, there will be some 152 flats for the university officials. The building will be constructed near the BNCC building and Shibbari on the Dhaka University campus.
The other approved projects are: Establishment of Jamalpur Textiles Institute involving Tk 62.50 crore; Practical Research on Boosting Crop Production through Expansion, Spread and Management of Water Efficient Modern Technology of Tk 39.02 crore; and Barisal Division Small Irrigation Development Project of Tk 101.18 crore.
Among others, ministers and state ministers, Planning Commission members and secretaries concerned were present at the meeting.