The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday approved a Tk 2204-crore project to expand and modernise Teletalk so that it can provide 4G services even in rural areas at a cheaper rate.

The approval came from the weekly Ecnec meeting chaired by its chairperson Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The PM joined the virtual meeting from her official residence, while other Ecnec members attended it from the NEC conference room.  

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“Today’s meeting approved a total of 10 projects with an overall estimated cost of Tk 7,985.51 crore (only additional cost of a revised project counted here). Of these, nine are new and the remaining one is a revised project,” said Planning Minister MA Mannan while briefing reporters after the meeting.  

Of the total cost, Tk 6,660.29 crore will be borne from the national exchequer, while Tk 173.09 crore from the own funds of the organisations concerned and the remaining Tk 1,188.13 crore will come as foreign loans, he said.  

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In terms of cost, three biggest projects are “Expansion of Teletalk network in rural areas and modernization of its network to deliver 5G services” project involving an estimated cost of Tk 2,204.39 crore; “Construction of Madarganj 100 Megawatt Solar Power Plant at Solar Park in Jamalpur” with Tk 1511.79 crore; and “Development of Important Roads in Keraniganj Upaizla, Dhaka”, with Tk 1,090 crore.  

According to the factsheet of the Planning Commission, the Teletalk project will be implemented across the country by November 2023.  

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The objectives of the project are to improve the quality of its network for providing 4G technology-based modern telecommunication services to rural people at cheaper rates, and modernise the necessary core transmission network as part of the prior preparation to provide 5G technology-based mobile services in Bangladesh within 2021-2023 in line with the government’s announcement.

The Planning Minister said the solar power project was placed before Ecnec with the title of ‘’Sheikh Hasina Solar Park, Jamalpur,” but the project was renamed due to strong objection from the Prime Minister.

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At the meeting, all other Ecnec members unanimously supported it, placing their rationale behind the proposed name of the iconic solar power project, but the Prime Minister wanted to change it and finally she herself renamed the project, said Mannan.

Rural Power Company Ltd (RPCL) will implement the solar power plant by December 2023.

While approving the “Replacement of dilapidated and narrow bailey bridges and other vulnerable bridges at important points in Rangpur Zone” project involving Tk 861.39 crore, Hasina directed the authorities concerned to find out such other vulnerable bridges in different parts of the country to replace these, he said.

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The other new projects are “Rural livelihood project-phase-III” costing Tk 928.88 crore; “Dhudkumar River management and development in Kurigram” involving Tk 692.68 crore; “Development of Bagerhat-Rampal-Mongla district highway” involving Tk 467.76 crore; “Collection and Conservation of audio visual documents of the Liberation War from local and foreign sources and capacity enhancement of Bangladesh Film Archive” costing Tk 62.68 crore; and “Char Development and Settlement Project (LGED portion with additional financing)” project with Tk 106.85 crore.

Besides, Ecnec cleared the first revision of the "Coordinated development of livestock at coastal areas" project, increasing its cost from Tk 95.34 crore to Tk 154.43 crore and extending the deadline from June 2021 to June 2023.

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