Tk1,73,000cr ADP approved

Staff Correspondent: National Economic Council (NEC) approved Tk 1,73,000 crore for Annual Development Programme (ADP) for the fiscal year 2018-19. Of the amount, Tk 1,13,000 crore will come from the local sources while the rest of Tk 60,000 crore from the foreign sources.

Besides, state owned autonomous organizations will finance Tk 7,869.17 crore from their own fund.

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal told this to journalists after a meeting at the NEC conference room at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital on Thursday.

ECNEC Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chaired the meeting.

The ADP for the next fiscal, also the highest development budget in the country's history, gave emphasis on accelerating the construction works of some mega infrastructure projects, including the Padma Bridge, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, Karnaphuli Tunnel, Matarbari Power Plant, Padma Bridge Rail link and Dhaka Metro rail.

Briefing reporters, Mustafa Kamal said they prepared and thus approved the ADP for the next fiscal considering the demands, achievements, capacity and previous performances of the ministries concerned and divisions in the outgoing fiscal 2017-18.

The original ADP outlay for the next financial year 2018-19 is 16.59 percent or Tk 24,619 crore higher than that of the revised allocation for the current fiscal 2017-18.

The mega projects like Rooppur power plant, Dhaka metro rail, Karnaphuli Tunnel and Matarbari Coal-based Power Plant projects witnessed higher allocations in the new ADP.

Among the mega projects, the Padma Bridge Project received an allocation of Taka 4,395 crore in the new ADP for fiscal 2018-19, followed by Padma Bridge Rail-link project with Taka 5,330 crore, Metro-rail project Taka 3,902.50 crore, Karnaphuli Tunnel project Taka 1,905 crore, construction of railway track from Chittagong to Ghumdhum via Cox's Bazar and Ramu project with Taka 1,450 crore, Matarbari ultra super critical coal-based power plant Taka 2,171.49 crore, Dhaka Elevated Expressway Project Taka 2,225.76 crore, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project Taka 11,099.26 crore and Infrastructure or facilities development for Paira Deep sea port with Taka 500 crore.

Kamal informed that the Planning Ministry had earlier received a total requirement of Taka 2,18,000 crore from all the ministries and divisions for the next ADP. But, after scrutinising those demands, the Planning Commission set the overall ADP size at Taka 1,80,869.17 crore.

Replaying to a question, he said they would not go for devising the Revised Annual Development Programme in future if there is no such specific reason.

The Planning Minister said after the completion of the 7th Five Year Plan in FY2020, the government will put emphasis on necessary reforms in the 8th Five Year Plan on the implementation process of the development projects as initiatives will be taken to ensure more quality in implementation of development projects.

Production or construction methodology may be changed during that time, he added.

Terming ADP the 'lifeline' for attaining desired GDP growth, Kamal hoped that Bangladesh would be able to meet all the criteria for becoming a higher middle income one by 2030.

"The year 2030 will be the base for attaining our cherished goal of becoming a developed nation by 2041."

He also informed that there would be no shortage of fund towards implementing the mega projects, including the Padma Bridge project.

In the new ADP, the transport sector received the highest allocation of Taka 45,449 crore, which is 26.27 percent of the entire budget, followed by the power sector with Taka 22,930 crore, which is 13.25 percent of the total allocation.

Physical planning, water supply, housing sector got Taka 17,890 crore while rural development organisations Taka 16,690 crore; education and religion Taka 16,620 crore; science, information and communication technology Taka 14,210 crore; health Taka 11,905 crore; agriculture Taka 7,076 crore; water resources Taka 4,592 crore, and public administration Taka 3,361 crore.

On March 7, the ADP for the current fiscal was revised with the government's contribution remaining the same at Taka 96,331 crore, but the foreign fund component was slashed 8.68 percent to Taka 52,050 crore.

According to the Planning Commission, a total of 1,346 development projects have been included in the ADP for the next fiscal. Besides, some 105 development projects of the autonomous and semi-autonomous agencies have been included.

Officials said out of the total 1,346 projects, some 1,227 schemes are investment projects while 117 are technical assistance projects, two are the Japan Debt Cancellation Fund-supported projects and the rest projects belong to the autonomous and semi-autonomous bodies.

Besides, some 78 projects have been kept for implementation under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative in the new ADP. Apart from this, Some 446 projects have been included to the list, which will be completed in the next year.


risingbd/Dhaka/May 10, 2018/Hasibul/AI