The government is going to give 500 more acres of land to Japanese investors in a bid to jack up foreign direct investment. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) yesterday approved the revised project for land acquisition to set up economic zones for Japanese investors at a cost of Tk 3,195 crore, up from the original Tk 762 crore.

According to a planning ministry proposal, the government will acquire the land at Araihazar in Narayanganj and Mirsharai in Chittagong.

The Ecnec approved the project in March 2017 with a plan to acquire 491 acres of land in Araihazar and 500 acres in Mirsharai.

Now, the government is going to acquire an additional 500 acres of land for the economic zone in Araihazar to meet the requirements of the Japanese developer.

An extra Tk 2,377 crore will be needed to acquire the additional land. This includes Tk 1,771 crore in land value and Tk 482 crore in compensation for the affected

landowners. The compensation was not incorporated in the initial project cost.

The project was scheduled to be complete by December 2018. Now, the new deadline will be June 2019.

Ecnec yesterday approved 12 more projects ofTk 3,253 crore. One of the projects at Dohar in Dhaka district - Majhirchar via Narisha Bazar to Mokshedpur dredging in the river Padma and protection of its left bank - was approved at a cost of Tk 1,483 crore.

The erosion of the left side of river Padma has been destroying roads, markets, school, madrasas and mosques. Through dredging 2,500 hectares of land will be reclaimed under the project.