Govt to buy 3cr blank smart cards for EC, 2.65 lakh tonnes of fertiliser

The government will buy three crore blank smart cards for the Election Commission (EC) at a cost of Tk406 crore.

Under the "Identification System for Enhancing Access to Services (2nd Phase)" project, the Armed Forces Division of the Prime Minister's Office will purchase the cards from the Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory Limited (BMTF) managed by the Bangladesh Army.

It will also procure some 2.65 lakh tonnes of fertiliser and 134.40 lakh MMBtu LNG to meet the growing demand of the country.

"The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase, at its 15th meeting held on Wednesday virtually, approved a total of 14 proposals, including aforesaid ones," Cabinet Division additional secretary Sayeed Mahbub Khan, briefed reporters after the virtual meeting.

He said the government would procure 30,000 tonnes of phosphoric acid from UAE with around Tk184.64 crore where per tonne would cost $572 against the previous price of $674 and 30,000 tonnes of bagged granular urea fertiliser from Qatar with around Tk95.32 crore per tonne fertiliser costing $295.33 against the previous price of $308.67.

It will also procure another 30,000 tonnes of bagged granular urea fertiliser from KAFCO, Bangladesh with around Tk105.14 crore where per tonne fertiliser would cost $325.75 against the previous price of $309.25 and 40,000 tonnes of DAP fertiliser from Saudi Arabia with around Tk238.59 crore with per tonne fertiliser costing $554.25 against the previous price of $599.75.

The government will purchase 50,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser from Canada with around Tk226.16 crore per ton fertiliser costing $420.38 down from the previous price of $444.13 and 25,000 tonnes of TSP fertiliser from Tunisia with around Tk105.73 crore where per tonne fertiliser would cost $393.

It will also procure 30,000 tonnes of TSP fertiliser from Morocco under a state-level agreement under the 1st lot with around Tk132.67 crore per tonne fertiliser costing $411 and 30,000 tonnes of urea from Saudi Arabia with around Tk105.02 crore.

Besides, the government would procure 33.60 lakh MMBtu LNG from Singapore with around Tk465.17 crore per MMBtu LNG costing $10.9788.

It would procure 33.60 lakh MMBtu LNG from Singapore with around Tk528.36 crore per MMBtu LNG costing $12.47 and another consignment of 33.60 lakh MMBtu from Singapore with around Tk503.73 crore while another consignment of 33.60 lakh MMBtu LNG from USA with around Tk516.50 crore.

In another proposal, the government would procure some 12,500 tonnes of sugar from a Turkish company with around Tk64.20 crore where per Kg sugar would cost Tk82.89 against the previous price of Tk88.74.

The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase also approved a cost variation proposal from the Ministry of Railways on the Padma Bridge Rail Link project. It approved an additional expenditure of Tk301.42 crore for the project to extend the duration of the consulting firm till May 2024.