Govt to boost grain storage capacity, says Tofail

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said Monday that the government has undertaken a plan to construct godowns having capacity of 10,000 tonnes food grains for Chittagong, Rangpur and Molvibazar regional offices of the Bangladesh Trading Corporation (TCB).

"We have already prepared draft DPP for the plan," he said, reports BSS.

His disclosure came while replying to a question from the treasury bench member Bazlul Haque Harun of Jhalokathi-1 in the Jatiya Sangsad.

The minister said the TCB had own godowns for food grains including at Tejgaon having the capacity of 4,872 tonnes, at Nedapa in Narayanganj of 2,208 tonnes and in Chittagong of 8,000 tonnes.

"We have more godowns having the capacity of 10,586 tonnes food grains on rent across the country, of which Khulna of 1,666 tonnes, Rajshahi of 1,320 tonnes, Rangpur of 2,000 tonnes, Barishal of 2,400 tonnes, Molvibazar of 1,600 tonnes and Mymensingh of 1,600 tonnes," Tofail added.

In the parliament, Food Minister Quamrul Islam also said Monday that a total of 1.86 million (10.86 lakh) tonnes food grains have already imported in the country in the current fiscal year.

"The government so far has imported around 10.86 lakh tonnes rice and paddy from Vietnam, Myanmar, India, Thailand, Cambodia and Russia through G2G and international bidding process in 2017-18 fiscal year," said the minister.

The food minister responded to a query made by opposition bench lawmaker Nurul Islam Milon of Comilla-8 at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban in Dhaka.

Of thee imported food grains, a total of 0.81 million tonnes rice and wheat have already been unloaded at the port and the rest 0.26 million tonnes is in way of unloading process, he added.

Meanwhile, the government has completed import agreement of 100,000 tonnes rice with Myanmar in the current fiscal year, Quamrul said, adding that 52,000 tonnes under the agreement already have reached the port.

As per food grain import target in 2017-18 fiscal year, he said already 0.77 million tonnes out of targeted 1.5 million tonnes have got the port, which is 51.33 per cent of the total targeted import.

On the other hand, some 316,000 tonnes wheat out of 0.5 million tonnes have reached the port, which is 63.2 per cent of the total wheat import, he added.