A total of 86 development projects, stalled for more than a decade despite having an approved estimated cost of Tk 4.76 trillion, significantly squeezed the previous government's fiscal space, potentially limiting the new administration's ability to take up fresh schemes, officials at the Planning Commission say.
According to them, Tk 3.23 trillion -- about 67.94 per cent of the approved cost -- has already been spent, while an additional Tk 1.53 trillion is required to complete the projects.
An analysis shows these projects received Tk 286.97 billion in the Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP) for the current fiscal year, indicating that completion will take another 5.32 years if project costs and allocations remain unchanged.
Economist Mustafa K Mujeri, former executive director of the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, says a large share of the development budget will continue to be absorbed by the long-pending projects, making it difficult for the new government to prioritise and approve fresh development initiatives.
He adds that the interim government already scrapped several unnecessary projects, and the new one should continue this approach by cancelling non-essential and difficult-to-implement schemes.
The project to develop Gulshan-Banani-Baridhara lakes was approved in 2010 with an estimated cost of Tk 5.55 billion.
It achieved 40.28 per cent progress in 16 years with a cumulative spending of Tk 2.24 billion.
Considering the current space of implementation, it will require another 27 years to be completed.
The current RADP bears two projects approved in 2010 and four in 2011.
The four projects approved in 2011 have achieved about 90 per cent progress with a combined cost of Tk 135.56 billion.
They are covering housing development in Uttara, the Chattogram outer ring road, the rehabilitation of the Kulaura-Shahbazpur rail section, and support for the Dhaka Elevated Expressway.
In contrast, six projects approved in 2017 have achieved 71.27 per cent progress and will require another Tk 131.70 billion for completion.
They are developing selected non-government colleges with ICT facilities, a residential site-and-services scheme in Jhenaidah Sadar, modernisation of Carew & Co (BD) Ltd, the Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Line-6, the Greater Dhaka Sustainable Urban Transport (Gazipur-Airport BRT), and construction of additional dual-gauge rail lines on the Dhaka-Tongi and Tongi-Joydebpur sections.
The concentration of fiscal pressure is heavily skewed towards the projects approved in 2016.
These 38 projects alone account for Tk 2.87 trillion -- about 60 per cent of the total project cost -- and Tk 1.59 trillion of the remaining financing need, indicating that delays in this single approval cohort are the principal driver of the overall funding gap.
Projects approved in 2014 and 2015 also contribute notably to the backlog.
The 2014 batch of 14 projects requires another Tk 127.01 billion despite high cumulative spending, suggesting near-completion bottlenecks.
In contrast, the 18 projects approved in 2015 show relatively low spending compared to the total cost, leaving a large unfinished liability of Tk 199.47 billion, which points to slow implementation rather than end-stage delays.
Overall, the pattern suggests that mid-decade mega-project expansion -- particularly in 2016 -- created the bulk of today's fiscal strain, while implementation inefficiencies in the 2015-era projects and completion delays in the 2014 schemes continue to prolong the funding requirements.
A senior official of the planning ministry says the interim government dropped 67 projects that remained unfinished to clean the ADP and expedite implementation.
"A list having information of the unnecessary and difficult-to-implement projects is being prepared to clean the APD further," he adds.
Officials say the current RADP contains 1,350 projects with an approved cost of Tk 17.71 trillion.
All the ministries and divisions spent Tk 7.89 trillion on these projects, while another Tk 9.82 trillion is required.
The current RADP allotted Tk 1.76 trillion for these projects, which indicates another 5.59 years are required for completing them in line with the current financing trend and cost structures.
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