The estimated expenditure for under-construction BEPZA Economic Zone Mirsarai-1st Phase project, has spiralled by about 74 per cent due to changes for further development works and increase in the number of industrial plots.

Moreover, it will take another two years, meaning until June 2023, to complete the project, which was first approved in September 2018 and due to be complete by June 2021.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council yesterday approved the project's first revision, increasing the cost to Tk 1,303 crore from Tk 750 crore.

That means, around Tk 552 crore of additional taxpayers' money will be have to be pumped into the project.

According to Planning Commission documents, one of the major reasons for the implementation time period and cost hikes is the increase in the number of industrial plots from 250 to 539, increasing the cost of land development and construction works.

Each plot is of 3,600 square feet.

The changes are to 61 components, with some 34 increasing costs and 27 enabling reductions. Cumulatively, they increase the project cost by Tk 369 crore.

Other developments are purchase of fire station equipment, construction of factory buildings, footpaths and three residential buildings and repairs of vehicles, increasing costs by Tk 182 crore.

This is yet another example of improper projections of government projects costing time and money.

The project was taken mainly due to unavailabilityof industrial plots in the eight export processing zones (EPZs) run by Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA).

This prompted Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority to provide 1,150 acres of land of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar to BEPZA Economic Zone, Mirsarai.

As of June last year, Tk 175 crore has already been spent behind the project.

Similarly, Ecnec gave its approval to a third revision of another project that aims for the skills development of mobile game and application developers.

With the view to avail a bigger slice of the rapidly growing international mobile gaming market that is worth about $90 billion, the government took up the project in 2016 with the cost at that time estimated at about Tk 282 crore.

In the past revisions, more time was sought but not funds. But this time, it received an additional Tk 49 crore and a two-year extension, meaning now it would be completed by June 2023.

At a briefing after the Ecnec meeting, Nasima Begum, a member of the Planning Commission, said the revision were brought about for the growth of the global market instead of taking up a new project.

Besides, the pandemic has delayed the start of the project and stalled progress initially, she said.

The revision is needed due to new activities under the project, such as making a 10-episode animated movie titled "Khoka" on the childhood of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and making 12 games under the game-based web platform.