In order to meet the nation’s increasing demand, the government today approved separate bids for the purchase of about 1.50 lakh metric tonnes of rice, 60,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser, and 30,000 metric tonnes of rock phosphate.
In other ideas, the government would also buy 5,000 metric tonnes of sugar and 10,000 metric tonnes of lentils.
The approvals came from the 15th meeting of this year’s Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase, which was chaired by Finance Advisor Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed and held today in the Cabinet Division Conference Room at the Bangladesh Secretariat.
Following two separate proposals from the Ministry of Food, the government would procure 1 lakh metric tons of white rice on G2G basis from Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF), Myanmar with around Taka 618 crore with per ton of rice costing $515.
Another plan calls for the government to spend approximately Taka 280.62 crore, or $467.70 per tonne, on 50,000 metric tonnes of non-Basmati cooked rice from M/S Mondol Stone Product Pvt Ltd under package 3 under the international OTM method for the current fiscal year (FY25).
The state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) would purchase 5,000 metric tonnes of sugar from City Sugar Industries Ltd. in Dhaka using the local OTM technique, costing approximately Taka 59.21 crore, with each kilogramme of sugar costing Taka 118.43, in response to two distinct recommendations from the Ministry of Commerce.
Besides, the TCB would also procure 10,000 metric tons of lentil under local OTM method from M/S Payel Traders, Chattogram with around Taka 96.69 crore where per ton lentil would cost Taka 96.69.
Following three separate proposals from the Ministry of Industries, the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) would procure 30,000 metric tons of bagged prilled urea fertilizer under the 6th lot from Qatar Energy Marketing with around Taka 133.08 crore for the current fiscal year (FY25) where per ton fertilizer would cost $369.67.
According to a different proposal, the BCIC would pay about Taka 123.23 crore, or $342.33 per tonne, for 30,000 metric tonnes of bulk granular (optional) urea fertiliser under the 11th lot from SABIC Agri-nutrients Company, Saudi Arabia, for the current fiscal year.
Additionally, using the international OTM technique, the BCIC would pay about Taka 82.62 crore for 30,000 metric tonnes of rock phosphate from M/S Zentrade FZE, UAE (manufacturer: OCP, SA, Morocco), with each tonne of rock phosphate costing $229.50.
In addition to this, four other bids from the Local Government Division were accepted at the day’s buying committee meeting.
