The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday cleared six development projects including Tk 7,189 crore one to upgrade Cumilla-Brahmanbaria National Highway into a four-lane one.
The highway from Mainamati of Cumilla to Dharkhar of Brahmanbaria will be upgraded into a four-lane one with separate lanes for slow vehicles on both sides by June 2026, aiming to establish fast, safe and cost-effective road connectivity between Sylhet and Cartogram regions.
The approval came from the ECNEC meeting presided over by its chair and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who joined the event through a virtual platform from her official residence Ganobhaban.
“The total estimated cost of the six approved projects is some Tk 8,739.68 crore (only additional costs of three revised projects were counted here),” said Planning Minister MA Mannan at a press briefing after the meeting held at the NEC Conference Room.
Of the total cost, Tk 5,929.03 crore will be drawn from the government’s fund, while the rest Tk 2,810.65 crore will come as foreign loan, he said.
According to the Planning Commission, the project titled ‘Upgrading Cumilla (Mainamati)-Brahmanbaria (Dharkhar) National Highway into a Four-Lane’ will be executed at the cost of Tk 7,188.66 crore.
The government will finance Tk 4,378 crore and the rest Tk 2,810.65 crore will come from the Indian Line of Credit (LoC).
The major project operations are acquisition of 103 hectares of lands, construction of 14 bridges (with total length of 1,218.44 meters), one 1,030-meter flyover, two underpasses, 50 culverts, 12 foot-over bridges, 50-km flexible pavement and 4.5-km rigid pavement.
The two other fresh projects are ‘Capacity Building of Institute of Nuclear Medicine and Allied Sciences (INMAS) in Mitford, Cumilla, Faridpur, Barishal and Bogra’ project with an estimated cost of Tk 214.79 crore and ‘Nutrition Improvement and Poverty Alleviation through Expansion of Mushroom Cultivation’ project with Tk 98.34 crore.
Among the three revised projects, the ECNEC cleared the first revision of Upgradation of Barishal-Bhola-Laxmipur National Highway project raising the cost from Tk 312.48 crore to Tk 502.26 crore, the first revision of Construction of Elevated Expressway from Lalkhan Bazar of Cartogram City to Shah Amanat Airport increasing the cost from Tk 3,250.84 crore to Tk 4,298.95 crore, and 4th revision of Construction of Akhaura-Agartala Dual Gauge Rail Link (Bangladesh Part) project extending only it’s time.
