Dillydallying costs an additional Tk4.60 billion besides time overrun in a Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) electricity-transmission project, officials have said.
The post-uprising interim govt bears the burden after over half a decade wasted in failure to complete the project, originally undertaken with a cost of Tk 58.04 billion, they said Thursday.
The project execution flop has forced the government to revise its cost and time upward as the USD rate has already been enhanced by nearly 30 per cent, Planning Commission (PC) officials said.
Primarily, the state-run company got four years time, between January 2018 and December 2021, to execute the 'Enhancement and strengthening of power network in eastern region project' at the aforesaid cost.
Later, the government extended the execution tenure by two and a half years up to June 2024 from its original deadline. But PGCB failed to complete gridline- upgrade project in the eastern Bangladesh again, PC officials said.
Recently, the company attained another year and additional fund allocations for completing its power-line-installation job.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) last month revised the project, extending the cost by Tk 4.60 billion to Tk 62.64 billion from its original estimation of Tk 58.04 billion.
The project was undertaken in 2018 for upgrading some 415-km transmission lines in the eastern part of Bangladesh, connecting Cumilla, Chattagram and greater Noakhali among other areas.
Asked about the project status, a PGCB official told the FE that mainly two reasons--including the devaluation of taka against the US dollar and adding some more transmission lines in the development-project proposal, made them revise the ongoing project.
He said: "The USD rate was some Tk 86 per dollar when we undertook the project in 2018. Now it has been enhanced to Tk 120 a dollar."
The company official hopes to go by the extended timeline. "We will complete the project by the new deadline to June 2025 and we are hopeful of a better and uninterrupted electricity supply in the national grid in the eastern Bangladesh."
The company has increased the project-aid component in the DPP due mainly to higher requirement of USD and increase in the total gridline upgradation works, he added.
A Member at the PC told the FE that the project is not only requiring additional public tax money, the people have also have been deprived of the aspired better electricity-supply facilities from the grid.
"Such unusual time and cost overruns should be barred and the culprits behind it should be punished," says the planning official.
The World Bank is bankrolling the lion's share of the project cost although it has been delayed for three and a half years.
Of the total Tk 62.64-billion project cost, the WB is providing Tk 41 billion and the remaining Tk 16.55 billion coming from government exchequer.
The WB has recently provided additional US$30 million in loan to PGCB due to fulfilling the project-financing gap that has resulted from inflation and exchange-rate fluctuations.
Earlier, the Washington-based global lender had provided $345 million worth of loan for the project.
Under the project, PGCB will upgrade and strengthen the 12.051km 400kv line, 179.18km 230kv line and 223.886km 132kv line in the eastern part of the country.
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