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implementation process, it mentioned.

During a three-day discussion in February, officials of the finance ministry, the planning ministry and other ministries concerned discussed and reviewed the ADB loan portfolio report and Bangladesh’s loan performance, said a finance ministry official.

PROJECTS FACING LONG DELAYS

In its report, the ADB cited three projects as examples to demonstrate how long delays and cost escalations affect implementation.

One of the projects, “The Greater Dhaka Sustainable Urban Transport Project,” was approved on April 17, 2012, with an estimated cost of $255 million, and a completion deadline of December 31, 2017. The ADB’s contribution was $160 million.

However, the deadline was later extended to December 31, 2022, and additional financing was approved to address the cost overrun. The total cost saw a 94-percent increase to $494.39 million from $255 million. Consequently, the ADB raised the loan amount for the project by 63 percent to $260 million from $160 million.

Multiple factors contributed to deadline extension and cost overrun, such as underestimated cost for civil works at appraisal, changes in the scope and design during implementation, delays in land acquisition and relocation of utilities, slow mobilisation and inadequate input of contractors, and also impacts of Covid-19.

Land acquisition and resettlement, scheduled for completion in the fourth quarter of 2013, were delayed by over three years. Similarly, civil work contracts were awarded more than three years behind schedule.

The second example was “The Power System Efficiency Improvement Project” taken up in August 2011, with a completion date of December 30, 2017.

Though the approved loan amount was $300 million, the authorities revised it four times, raising the total cost by 3 percent. The deadline was extended by eight years with the latest completion date set for December 31 this year.

The third example was “Dhaka Environmentally Sustainable Water Supply Project,” approved in 2013 with a completion date of June 30, 2020. But the project has yet to be completed, with the ADB raising its loan amount to $328.80 million from $250 million.