The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) today approved nine projects involving Taka 2,422.27 crore with a Taka 306.23 crore scheme to acquire necessary land and ancillary
facilities development for implementing the India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline Project.

The approval came at a meeting of the ECNEC with its Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair held at the NEC Conference Room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.

Briefing the reporters after the meeting, Planning Division Secretary Md Nurul Amin said a total of nine projects were approved today involving an overall estimated cost of Taka 2,422.27 crore.

“Of the total project cost, Taka 2,108.45 crore will come from the government while the rest of Taka 313.82 crore from the concerned organization’s own fund,” he said.

Of the approved nine projects, five are new while the four others are revised projects.

The planning secretary said Meghna Petroleum Limited (MPL) under the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will implement the project by June 2022.

The project aims to make necessary land acquisition and construct necessary infrastructures, including receiving terminal inside Bangladesh part to erect the underground pipeline for supplying and transporting fuel oil.

The implementation of the project would facilitate oil transportation and import from Numaligarh Refinery Limited under Shiliguri of India to Parbatipur Depot under Dinajpur district through erecting 10 inch diameter and 125 kilometer long petroleum pipeline.

The main project operations include some 187.34 acres of land acquisition, some 126.14 acres of forced land acquisition, acquisition of some 12 acres of land alongside 8 acres of forced land acquisition for transporting fuel to Syedpur Power Plant, procurement of necessary pipelines and other necessary equipments like pumps, meters and filters.

The project operations also include construction of six tanks having capacity of 6,761 metric tons of fuel oil for establishing the receiving terminal at Parbatipur Depot, installation, commissioning and operation of SCADA having optical fiber, installation of various types of valves, static equipments and rotating equipments, procurement of transformers and power cables, installing pipelines, completing testing and commissioning works.

According to the Planning Commission, the project has been undertaken considering the growing demand of fuel oil in the northern districts as around 5.8 lakh metric tons of fuel oil is needed in the northern region of Bangladesh every year.

This project will facilitate importing fuel oil from Numaligarh Refinery Limited under Shiliguri of India to Parbatipur Depot under Dinajpur district.

Referring to the project of Teletalk Bangladesh Ltd which was placed in the meeting today to extend its network at the village level alongside modernization of 5G network, Nurul Amin said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked the authorities concerned to conduct feasibility study for the project by a third party to ascertain where it’s towers would be installed, before placing it again at ECNEC.

The premier also directed the high-ups of Teletalk Bangladesh to infuse dynamism into its activities.

The other projects approved in the meeting are upgrading of Baneswar (Rajshahi)-Sarda-Charghat-Bagha-Lalpur (Natore)-Ishwardi (Pabna) (R-606) district highway into regional highway at a cost of Taka 554.30 crore, Widening and strengthening of Syedpur-Nilphamari Highway, 1st revised with an additional cost of Taka 217.08 crore, Protection of both embankments of Kushiara River in front of the Bibiana power plants under Habiganj district with Taka 573.48 crore, Construction of multistory building of BSCIC at Tejgaon, 1st revised with an additional cost of Taka 30.35 crore, establishment of BSCIC plastic industrial estate, 1st revised with an additional cost of Taka 264.45 crore, Maintenance and reconstruction of 8 industrial estates of BSCIC with Taka 74.25 crore, Further infrastructural Development of Khulna University, 1st revised, with an additional cost of Taka 146.91 crore and establishing 50-bed kidney dialysis center at medical college and 10-bed kidney dialysis center at Sadar hospital with Taka 255.22 crore.

Ministers and state ministers attended the meeting while Planning Commission members and secretaries concerned were present.