Govt. to procure 21 lakh tonnes of fuel oil, 60,000 tonnes of fertilizer

The government today approved separate proposals for procuring some 21 lakh tonnes of fuel oil and 60,000 tonnes of fertilizer to meet the growing demand of the country.

The approval came from the second meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) in this year held today virtually with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair.

Briefing reporters after the meeting virtually, Cabinet Division Additional Secretary Sayeed Mahbub Khan said that the day's meeting approved a total of 10 proposals.

He said following a proposal from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) would procure some 20.40 lakh tonnes of refined fuel oil from seven state-owned enterprises of various countries from January-June period of the current year with around Taka 18,215.52 crore.

The refined fuel oil will be imported from BSP of Indonesia, ENOC of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), IOCL of India, Petrochina of China, PTLCL of Malaysia, PTTT of Thailand and NIPEC of China.

Mahbub said the BPC would also procure some 60,000 tonnes of diesel from Numaligarh efinery Limited of India with around Taka 545.04 crore for the January to December period of the current year.

Following two separate proposals from the Ministry of Industries, Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) would procure some 30,000 tonnes of bulk granular urea fertilizer from Fertiglobe Distribution Limited in the UAE under the 10th lot with around Taka 150.08 crore with per ton fertilizer costing US$470 against the previous price of US$480, he said.

Besides, the BCIC would procure another 30,000 tonnes of urea fertilizer from the Saudi Arabia with around Taka 149.36 crore where per ton fertilizer would cost US$470 against the previous price of US$551.67.

The Cabinet Division Additional Secretary informed that following a proposal from the Ministry of Commerce, the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) would procure some 12,500 tonnes of sugar from Srinnova Ispat Private Limited Kolkata, India (local agent: LID, Dhaka) with around Taka 70.02 crore.

Besides, the day's CCGP meeting approved another proposal from the Ministry of Railways for appointing the joint venture of OCG, Japan, EGIS of France, HSS of Malaysia, and SODEV Consult International Limited Bangladesh as the consultants with around Taka 193.64 crore for the project titled 'Technical Assistance for Railway Connectivity Improvement Project' aimed at conducting feasibility study and detailed designs for some 11 sub projects.

Apart from these, the meeting approved three proposals from the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (BREB) under the Power Division and another one variation proposal from Dhaka WASA under the Local Government Division.