One project is seeking higher allocation, one deadline extension and three are requesting both as the government is set to place seven projects at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) tomorrow for approval.

If the government's proposals are okayed, the cost of at least five projects might go up by 42 per cent, or more than Tk 846 crore, from the initial estimates, while the deadline to implement them may be pushed back by one to two years.

Seven projects may be placed at the meeting.

Despite repeated warnings from the prime minister and the planning commission's objection regarding the delay in the implementation of important projects, the scenarios have not changed so far.

Rather time extension and cost overruns have become a norm, which deprives the public of benefiting from a project that is constructed within the stipulated deadline and costs the taxpayers more.

Among the five projects, Sheikh Sayera Khatun Medical College and Nursing Institute in Gopalganj is poised for a seventh extension as the authorities have failed to complete the work in a decade.

The cost of the project, being implemented by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), has almost doubled due to the implementation delay.

In two phases, the cost has increased to Tk 705 crore from Tk 464 crore initially.

The institution, named after Bangabandhu's mother, saw its implementation begin in March 2012 and was due to complete in February 2015.

While explaining the reason for the time extension, the DGHS argued that the construction of the nursing college came to halt due to the feud between the successor contractors following the death of the prime contractor in June 2020.

Besides, the construction was postponed for at least three months due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to a document.

The DGHS, however, has not sought any cost revision.

Contacted, Project Director Asit Kumar Mallick said he was the fourth PD and the work had gained momentum during his time.

"We have already handed over the medical college, and 99 per cent work of the hospital has been completed. We are just waiting to hand over it," he said.

Due to the death of the contractor, a former state minister for religious affairs, of the nursing college, the work has been pushed back.

"However, we are working on it and around 65 per cent of the construction has been completed," Mallick said.

At least 44 per cent cost increase has been sought for the Nabinagar-Ashuganj Highway Development project in its second revision.

The project, which aims to establish a 19.98-kilometre highway connectivity through Nabinagar of Brahmanbaria to the Dhaka-Sylhet highway, was taken in July in 2018 and was scheduled to complete by June 2021.

Initially, the project cost was set at Tk 421 crore. Now, it has been proposed to increase to Tk 607 crore, with the implementing agency saying it has added seven more components, including bridges and culverts.

The Baraiyarhat-Heyako-Ramgarh roads extension project has sought a 31 per cent cost increase. The project was initiated in July 2020 to expand the import-export and business activities with India through the highway.

In the proposed revision, the implementing agency, Roads and Highway Division (RHD), has requested a two-year deadline extension to December 31, 2024.

Since Bangladesh will have to pay customs duties as per the project agreement, the Development Project Proposal needs to be amended in order to incorporate the new component, it said.

One of the examples of both time and cost overruns is the Khulna Shipyard Roads Extension and Development project.

The project was taken in July 2013 and June 2016 was set as the deadline. But its fifth extension expired in June 2022 and the implementing agency is now seeking another extension. The proposed deadline is December 2023.

Due to the complexities in land acquisition and removing local establishments, the construction has slowed, according to the planning ministry's documents.

The physical progress of the project is 45 per cent.

Two more projects may be placed at the Ecnec meeting and both are new.

Under a Tk 1,914-crore project, jetties will be set up in the southeastern part of the country, while Tk 65 crore will be spent for sustainable agricultural development in Dinajpur as part of another initiative.