Weak feasibility study costs DPDC Tk 629cr

An “in-house feasibility study” of Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) has come to the fore for all the wrong reasons, having cost a project an excess Tk 629 crore and four years’ delay.

The project involves constructing two substations, one of 132/33 KV (kilovolt) and another 33/11 KV.

Substations are bulk delivery points that receive electric energy generated at a central power station for distribution to consumers.

The project started in 2013, estimating the cost to be Tk 1,850 crore and the completion deadline of 2017.

Now, five revisions past, it is set to cost Tk 2,479 crore and be completed coming June.

The latest revision got the nod of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) yesterday.

The in-house feasibility study was carried out by the project implementing agency, the DPDC, said the planning ministry in the revision proposal.

Asked if there are any regulations that allow such in-house feasibility study for a project, Sharifa Khan, a Planning Commission member, said a feasibility study for a project could be carried out by consultants or the implementing agency itself.

“In this case, the agency (DPDC) conducted the feasibility study with its own engineers, technicians and economists,” Khan said yesterday.

The construction of the two substations and delays in getting permission from city corporations for running transmission lines below the ground resulted in the extensions, she added.

According to the Planning Commission proposal, the cost increased for the need for additional equipment due to change of a source substation, of electrical protection for three other source substations as per the demand of the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh and inclusion of renovation work of a Dhanmondi 132/33 KV substation and a Bangshal 33/11 KV substation.

The amount of cables and the number of towers have also been increased based on an “actual” route survey, alongside prices of raw materials related to machinery and mechanical equipment, foreign currency exchange rate and expenditure in the machinery sector.

The fund is planned to be sourced from the government (Tk 589 crore), the DPDC’s own fund (Tk 313 crore) and foreign loans (Tk 1,577 crore).

The Ecnec yesterday approved six proposals in total worth Tk 5,619 crore, three of which are revised ones.

One revised proposal is for protecting Naria and Jazira upazilas in Shariatpur from erosion of the Padma river. It was allowed an additional 12 months and Tk 319 crore, taking the total cost to Tk 1,417 crore.

Another revision was over the expansion and development of a Rajshahi road. Its cost increased by Tk 36 crore to Tk 164 crore.

A proposal to build 30,000 homes for financially insolvent freedom fighters and family members of martyred and deceased war heroes to uplift their socioeconomic status was also approved at the Ecnec.

Titled “Bir Nibash”, the homes will be constructed in 64 districts of eight divisions under a Tk 4,122.98-crore project.

The homes will be given to them as a gift from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the occasion of the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the golden jubilee of the country’s independence.