Dhaka: Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Mustafa Jabbar on Wednesday claimed that the Bangabandhu-1 Satellite Project has been implemented with Tk 200 crore less than the estimated cost.

The minister came up with the remarks while addressing a road show program on World Telecommunication and Information Society Day- 2018, held in front of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (BTRC) office.

In reply to BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed’s demand regarding the project expenditure to be made public, Mustafa Jabbar said, there should be no question as the project is transparent and nothing has been kept secret during the project implementation.

‘What else should we make public, do they need brochure about where and how much has been disbursed during the project implementation?’ he questioned.

Undertaken by BTRC, the Bangabandhu-1 Satellite was built by Thales Alenia Space, a Franco-Italian aerospace manufacturer headquartered in Cannes, the French city more famous for its film festival.

Jabbar also said more such initiatives will be taken in future, and Bangabandhu-1 will not the last satellite operated by Bangladesh. ‘We want to bring broadband internet and mobile broadband to everyone in the country.’