Govt to procure 1.50 lakh tonnes rice, 60,000 tonnes fertiliser

The government today (4 December) approved separate proposals for procuring some 1.50 lakh tonnes of rice, 60,000 tonnes of fertiliser and 30,000 tonnes of rock phosphate to meet the growing demand of the country.

The government in separate proposals will also purchase 10,000 tonnes of lentil and 5,000 tonnes of sugar.

The approvals came from the 15th meeting of the Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase this year held at the Cabinet Division Conference Room at Bangladesh Secretariat with Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed in the chair.

Following two separate proposals from the Ministry of Food, the government will procure 1 lakh tonnes of white rice on G2G basis from Myanmar Rice Federation (MRF), Myanmar with around Tk618 crore, per tonne of rice costing $515.

In another proposal, the government will purchase 50,000 tonnes of non-Basmati boiled rice from M/S Mondol Stone Product Pvt Ltd under package 3 under international OTM method for the current fiscal year (FY25) with around Tk280.62 crore where per tonne of rice will cost $467.70.

Following two separate proposals from the Ministry of Commerce, the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) will procure 5,000 tonnes of sugar under local OTM method from City Sugar Industries Ltd Dhaka with around Tk59.21 crore, per kg sugar costing Tk118.43.

Besides, the TCB will also procure 10,000 tonnes of lentil under local OTM method from M/S Payel Traders, Chattogram with around Tk96.69 crore where per ton lentil will cost Tk96.69.

Following three separate proposals from the Ministry of Industries, the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) will procure 30,000 tonnes of bagged prilled urea fertilizer under the 6th lot from Qatar Energy Marketing with around Tk133.08 crore for the current fiscal year (FY25) where per ton fertiliser will cost $369.67.

In another proposal, the BCIC will procure 30,000 tonnes of bulk granular (optional) urea fertilizer under the 11th lot from SABIC Agri-nutrients Company, Saudi Arabia for the current fiscal year with around Tk123.23 crore with per ton fertiliser costing $342.33.

Besides, the BCIC will procure 30,000 tonnes of rock phosphate from M/S Zentrade FZE, UAE (manufacturer: OCP, SA, Morocco) under international OTM method with around Tk82.62 crore, per tonne rock phosphate costing $229.50.

Apart from these, the day's purchase committee meeting approved four other proposals from the Local Government Division.