Budget for the ministry of industries (MoI) has been halved in the last three years as it is discouraging foreign aid and increasing government's own financing, official sources said.
In the coming fiscal year (FY), 2015-16, the ministry has made a budget proposal for Tk 12.74 billion as development budget which was Tk 24.40 billion in the FY14.
An official of the MoI said the proposal in the FY15 budget was for Tk 16.01 billion and it would be further decreased in the coming budget.
He said though the amount is decreasing, the government's own financing has been increasing over the last three years while, at the same time, foreign financing is also decreasing.
He said in the FY14 the GOB (government of Bangladesh) financing in the budget for the MoI was Tk 4.01 billion and foreign aid fund was Tk 19.08 billion.
He said in the FY15 the GOB fund was Tk 10.10 billion and foreign fund was Tk 5.91 billion and in the coming budget they have proposed Tk 11.95 billion as GOB fund and Tk 790 million as foreign fund.
He said utilisation of the budget in the FY14 was more than 93 per cent and among the major projects are Shahjalal Fertiliser Mills which would start operation in June this year and the Tannery Industrial Park in Savar where factories have started relocating their units.
Among other projects are Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (API) Park in Munshiganj, Sirajganj Shilpa Park, Bhoirob Industrial Estate, modernisation of BSTI (Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution), establishment of chemical metrology in the BSTI, Thakurgaon Sugar Mills modernisation, BMRE of Caru and Company and others.
Another MoC official said the Shahjalal Fertiliser Mills is being constructed with the financial assistance from the Chinese government and it is a giant project by the government to meet demand for fertilisers.
Additional secretary of the MoI Farhad Uddin said the government is financing from its own funds for industrial development and in the coming days a good number of projects would be taken up with fund from the government itself.He said utilisation of the budget sanctioned every year is satisfactory as in the last fiscal the utilisation was more than 93 per cent and it was also satisfactory in the FY2013.
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