TDS Desk:

The cost of the country’s ongoing seven mega projects, which were taken under the ousted Sheikh Hasina government, will be verified. There are allegations that several such projects were taken up for “political purposes”. It is also alleged that looting has been provided in the name of project implementation at the cost of more money. The Interim Government is now looking into the economic justification of these projects.

Sources from the Ministry of Planning state that these seven ongoing mega projects will cost about Tk 230,000 crore. Of these, more than 90 percent of the remaining six projects have been completed except for the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.

However, was there any need to take such a project at the expense of a huge amount of money and whether the projects were taken logically or not – these are being reviewed.

The Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Department (IMED) of the Ministry of Planning is doing the cost review of the projects.

However, the Interim Government’s documents on the country’s economy will also have a review of mega projects. Whether the projects were needed at all and why it was taken – these are being sought. Costs will also be reviewed.

IMED Secretary Abul Kashem Md. Mohiuddin told the media that an initiative has been taken to evaluate the big projects. This review will end soon.

Several big projects were taken up during the previous Awami League government, which are known as “mega projects”. Payra port, Matarbari thermal power plant, Rooppur nuclear power plant, metro rail in Dhaka, Padma bridge, four-lane road – these projects were taken up.

Zahid Hossain, the former chief economist of World Bank’s Dhaka office, thinks that the projects taken by the previous government must be reviewed.

“Padma Bridge project has been completed, but how much value can it add to the economy compared to the cost? About ‘$5 crore (Tk 600 crore) will be required’ every year to smooth the movement of ships up to Payra seaport. It is said that the nuclear power plant will require ‘more uranium’ due to its old reactors. The railway from Chattogram’s Dohazari to Cox’s Bazar has been launched. But a few trains have been running. A huge amount of money has been spent on these projects,” he said.

How far is a project —

There were eight projects in the list of last priority projects of the outgoing Awami League government. The Padma Bridge project was officially completed last June. This project of Tk 22,000 crore ended up with Tk 32,000 crore. The entire amount is provided from “public tax money”.

In 2012, a metro rail project was taken up from Uttara in the capital to Motijheel via Mirpur and Farmgate. Metrorail has been launched from Uttara to Motijheel. Now the work of extending metro rail to Kamalapur is underway. The total project cost is Tk 33,472 crore. As of July, the implementation rate of physical progress is 90 percent. Japan’s JICA has given a loan of Tk 19,718 crore for this project. It will take 45 years to pay off this debt with just ticket sales.

About 99 percent of the Rampal power plant, jointly invested by Bangladesh and India, was completed last July. In this project of Tk 16,000 crore, production has already started in one unit. However, there was a complaint from the beginning – the Sundarbans could be affected and damaged by this.

The Padma Bridge Rail Link Project worth Tk 39,246 crore is being implemented to build a rail link between the capital Dhaka and the southern part of the country. The work of this project is 95 percent completed. The train has started running. 48 trains are scheduled to run a day, however, only 10 trains have been running.

Tk 113,000 crore is being spent on the construction of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant with a loan from Russia. The project was taken in July 2016. It is scheduled to end in December 2025. Only 69 percent of the project has been implemented till last July. One of the concerns of this project is that from the beginning of 2027, about $500 million will have to be repaid annually.

The progress of the Matarbari thermal power station has been 88 percent. The rest of the project will be completed by December 2026.

The cost of the Payra deep sea port construction project after two revisions has stood at Tk 4,374 crore. So far, 93 percent of the work has been completed. It is learned that despite the presence of Mongla port, the purpose of the construction of Payra port within 100 km is only “political”. It is difficult to operate the harbor unless regular dredging is done.

99 percent of the railway construction project from Chattogram’s Dohazari to Cox’s Bazar has been completed. Trains have started running on this route. But for now, the railway is not being built up to the Myanmar border. There are scheduled to run 26 trains per day but only 6 are currently operating.