Fuel crisis: Govt to buy 2 lakh more tonnes of diesel
Besides the import of fuel, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase also approved two major procurement proposals, and the extension of consultancy services for a critical water supply project
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a proposal to buy 2 lakh more tonnes of diesel and octane through direct purchase to address the ongoing fuel crisis due to tensions in the Middle East involving the Iran war.
In addition, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase has approved a proposal to buy 1.75 lakh tonnes of octane and diesel.
These proposals were approved in a meeting of the committees held today (21 April) at Cabinet Division, under the chairmanship of Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, the finance ministry' public relations department confirmed.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
As per the rules, the government has to take approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs before purchasing any goods and services from domestic and foreign sources.
The proposals approved in this meeting are purchased if they are approved by the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase.
Out of the 1.75 lakh tonnes of fuel approved by the purchase committee, 1.50 lakh tonnes of diesel and 25,000 tonnes of octane are included.
Of this, 50,000 tonnes of diesel and 25,000 tonnes of octane will be purchased from the Dubai-based DBS TRADING HOUSE FZCO through direct purchase method. The total cost of this will be Tk1,023.61 crore.
In addition, the purchase committee has approved the proposal to import 1 lakh tonnes of diesel from Archer Energy LLC through direct purchase method. The cost of this will be Tk674.6 crore.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs is also approving in principle the proposal to import 1 lakh tonnes of diesel from Archer Energy LLC and 1 lakh tonnes of diesel from Mazda Oil Co Ltd.
Besides the import of fuel, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase also approved two major procurement proposals, and the extension of consultancy services for a critical water supply project.
The committee granted approval to a proposal from the Local Government Division regarding the "Dhaka Environmentally Sustainable Water Supply (DESWS)" project.
Under this approval, the international consulting firm Fichtner GmbH & Co. KG (GER) has been appointed for Management, Design & Supervision Consultant (MDSC) services.
The contract, valued at Tk96.95 crore, will cover a period of 24 months starting from September 2025.
The meeting also approved a proposal of the Ministry of Food for three crore Hessian sacks to bolster the nation's grain storage and distribution infrastructure.
Estimated at a total expenditure of approximately Tk215.65 crore, the initiative marks a major logistical step by the Directorate General of Food to ensure the integrity of the national food supply chain.
To meet stringent government standards for the transport and preservation of essential commodities, each sack is specified to have a 30kg capacity.
This move is designed to support the large-scale handling of food grains across the country's various storage depots.
