Govt to procure soybean oil, sugar, wheat, lentils

FE Team | Published: November 28, 2024 00:40:27

The government Wednesday approved separate proposals for procuring some 5.5 million liters of soybean oil, 60,000 tonnes of fertilizer and 50,000 tonnes of wheat to meet the growing demand of the country, reports BSS.
Besides, the government also approved proposals to procure 20,000 tonnes of sugar and 20,000 tonnes of lentil.
The approvals came from the 14th meeting of the Advisers' Council Committee on Government Purchase in this year held Wednesday at the Cabinet Division conference room at Bangladesh Secretariat with Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed in the chair.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, the finance adviser said that they have special attention on procurement of essential items. "We're now procuring lentil, fertilizer and wheat," he added.
Responding to a question, he said that comfort has been restored to some extent among the common people regarding the prices of essentials.
"We're trying to ensure that there remains not much gap between the production cost, import cost and at the retail or consumer level while such gap does not become irrational," he added.
Cabinet Division officials said following a proposal from the Ministry of Commerce, the TCB would procure 5.5 million liters of soybean oil from Bashundhara Multi Food Products Ltd with around Tk 913 million with per liter oil costing Tk 166.
The meeting also approved two separate proposals from the Ministry of Commerce where the TCB would procure 10,000 tonnes of sugar through local Open Tender Method (OTM) from Meghna Sugar Refinery Ltd with around Tk 1.17 billion with per kg sugar costing Tk 116.85 and another consignment of 10,000 tonnes of sugar from Meghna Sugar Refinery Ltd with around Tk 1.16 billion where per kg sugar would cost Tk 115.85.
In response to two other proposals from the Ministry of Commerce, the TCB would procure 10,000 tonnes of lentil from Nabil Naba Foods Ltd under local OTM method with around Tk 979.7 million where per kg lentil would cost Tk 97.97 while another consignment of 10,000 tonnes of lentil from Nabil Naba Foods Ltd with around Tk 972.2 million where per kg lentil would cost Tk 97.22.
Following a proposal from the Ministry of Food, the Directorate General of Food would procure 50,000 tonnes of wheat from M/S Agrocorp International Pte Ltd, Singapore under international OTM method with around Tk 1.72 billion while per tonne fertilizer costing $286.08.
The Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) would procure 30,000 tonnes of bagged granular urea fertilizer from KAFCO, Bangladesh with around Tk 1.21 billion and another consignment of 30,000 metric tons of bulk granular urea fertilizer from SABIC Agri-nutrients Company, Saudi Arabia with around Tk 1.25 billion.