Revised ADP approved with more allocation for transport, housing, less for health, edu

The government has approved the revised annual development programme (ADP) for the current financial year by reducing the allocation by Tk18,000 crore.

Some sectors received less than last year, while others were given more.

A total of Tk2.45 lakh crore was allocated to 1,488 projects in the approved revised ADP at the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday (12 March).

Of this, Tk1,61,500 crore will come from government funds and Tk83,500 crore from foreign aid.

In the revised ADP, the highest allocation of 25.82% is for transport and communication, followed by 15.47% for power and energy, 11.43% for housing and community, 8.15% for local government, 7.03% for education, and 5.83% for environment and climate change.

Compared to last year, the allocation was increased for transport and communication, housing, environment, agriculture, and science and technology sectors.

But it decreased for education, health, power and energy, local government, and rural development sectors.

After the meeting, Planning Minister Abdus Salam told the media that the allocation for health and education has decreased because of limited capacity to spend in these areas, despite being a priority. 

On the other hand, the demand for transport infrastructure has risen, leading to an over-provision in allocation due to increased spending capacity, he added.

He further said due to election and political violence, the implementation of ADP has been hampered in the current financial year, but he expected it to pick up pace in the next financial year.

The PM gave instructions to strengthen the supervision to speed up the implementation of projects, he added. 

Revised ADP this year

Compared to the revised ADP of FY23, the revised ADP size of the current fiscal year has increased by Tk17,434 crore or 7.66%. The size of RADP last fiscal was Tk2.28 lakh crore.

The size of government funds increased by Tk9,000 crore or 12% while the size of foreign aid increased by Tk8,434 crore or 5.51% in the RADP.

The Rooppur Nuclear Power Project leads with an allocation of Tk9,707 crore in the current RADP, unchanged from the original ADP. 

The second-highest allocation, Tk8,947 crore, also remains unchanged for the Matarbari coal-fired power plant. 

The Fourth Primary Education Development Programme received the third-highest allocation at Tk6,841 crore, witnessing a reduction of Tk1,745 crore compared to the original ADP. 

The Padma rail link project received an allocation of Tk4,787 crore in the RADP, down from Tk5,500 crore in the original ADP. 

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives leads in RADP allocations with 16.29% of the total, amounting to Tk39,905 crore. 

Block allocation for special needs in the RADP has increased to a record high of 283% against the fiscal's original ADP allocation.

It has a block allocation of Tk17,984 crore for special development assistance. In the initial ADP, the allocation was Tk4,697 crore. 

Block allocations are reserved funds set aside to address urgent needs in addition to the budgetary allocations. Prior consultation with the Finance Division is mandatory for any expenditure from the block allocation designated for "special needs" of the Planning Commission