After a lapse of nine years, the government has finally decided to construct the Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Centre at Purbachal at a cost of Tk 13.03 billion, up by 374 per cent from the original cost.
Presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday revised the exhibition centre construction project, hiking the cost from Tk 2.75 billion.
Of the total cost, the government will provide Tk 4.75 billion, China Tk 6.26 billion in grant and Export Promotion Bureau Tk 2.03 billion for building the exhibition centre on 20 acres of land, said State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan.
He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has instructed the authority concerned to complete the construction work of Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Centre as soon as possible.
According to the revised project proposal, the project is scheduled to be completed by December 2020.
The government first approved a Tk 2.75-billion project to construct the exhibition centre in the Old Airport area of Tejgaon.
Later, it scrapped the decision and decided to shift the project site to Purbachal on the outskirts of Dhaka city in 2015.
The government also approved a fresh project at a cost of Tk 7.96 billion for building the exhibition centre at Purbachal by June 2018.
The ECNEC on Tuesday revised the project, increasing the cost by 374 per cent to Tk 13.03 billion and extending the execution deadline to December 2020.
Besides, the council approved expansion and improvement of the Maijdee-Rajganj-Chhayani-Basurhat-Chandraganj regional highway at a cost of Tk 2.52 billion and link project for acquisition of land for the construction of Khanjahan Ali Airport under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) at a cost of Tk 2.17 billion.
It also endorsed further development of Bangladesh Agricultural University project at Tk 6.60 billion, and repairing old food warehouse and related facilities, and construction of new infrastructure project at Tk 3.17 billion and upward expansion of circuit house project in 37 districts at Tk 1.70 billion.
Ministers, Planning Commission members and high official concerned were present at the meeting.
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