The government is set to give the go to three more electricity-distribution projects at a total cost of Tk 47.17 billion for connecting more villages under on-grid power supply.
Officials said the new schemes are up for approval before completion of six ongoing ones taken up for electricity distribution in out-of-power areas of different divisions.
Government's highest economic policymaking body, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), is likely to give its seal of approval today (Tuesday) to these three new projects.
The Rural Electrification Board (REB) will upgrade its distribution system in five divisions across the country by undertaking three fresh projects which, the sources said, would be "duplication with the existing seven projects".
The projects are: rural electrification expansion in Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions-2 involving Tk 13.85 billion, Dhaka division-2 costing Tk 16.45 billion and Chittagong-Sylhet divisions-2 involving Tk 16.87 billion.
Meanwhile, the ECNEC last month approved REB's World Bank-funded Tk 51.98 billion 'Enhancement of the distribution system capacity of the rural electrification project' for installing nearly 4850 kilometres of distribution lines in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions.
Earlier in 2010, the state-run Rural Electrification Board undertook eight distribution-line expansion and upgradation projects across all seven divisions in the country at an aggregate cost of Tk 92.76 billion. Out of those eight projects, six are still ongoing while another two were completed in June this year.
A Power Division official told the FE that the REB had sought approval for three power-distribution projects from the Planning Commission early this year.
The official said the REB would connect 1.15 million more customers through the upcoming three projects in Rajshahi-Rangpur divisions-2, in Dhaka division-2 and Chittagong-Sylhet divisions-2 regions.
Presently, REB's under-implementation projects include connecting 1.80 million new customers with the rural electricity-distribution system across the country at Tk 54.13 billion, rural electrification expansion in Chittagong-Sylhet divisions-1 project at Tk 5.75 billion, Rajshahi and Rangpur divisions-1 project a+t Tk 4.87 billion, Barisal division-1 project at Tk 2.68 billion, Khulna division scheme at Tk 4.70 billion, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Khulna and Barisal divisions project at Tk 14.51 billion.
In June, the project-execution tenure of two projects-Tk4.98 billion Dhaka division and Tk 262.1 million Gopalganj rural electrification schemes-were completed.
Another Power Division official said although the implementation of the ongoing projects was "very much dissatisfactory", the REB has taken three more similar kinds of projects.
"The three projects will overlap the existing ones of the REB," he told the FE, requesting anonymity.
The official said: "This is simply waste of money as the REB has no capacity to implement such a huge number of projects. The project will suffer from the implementation delay, resulting in financial and economic losses."
According to Power Division's report, the REB has implemented only 20.53 percent of the Tk 54.13 billion works for connecting 1.8 million consumers till April 2014 since its inception in January 2012.
The rest five projects have also been struggling for implementation delays although most of those had been undertaken more than four years ago, the official said.
"Most of the projects have been taken on political considerations. Since some ministers, Members of Parliament and political leaders are putting pressure on us, we have been forced to take those projects," the power official said.
