Govt to procure edible oil, lentil to stabilise market

The Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase on Tuesday recommended approval of separate proposals to procure lentils and edible oil to stabilise the market for essential commodities ahead of the Holy Month of Ramadan.

The approval came from the 1st meeting of the Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase in this year held on Tuesday at the Cabinet Division Conference Room at Bangladesh Secretariat with Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed in the chair.

The committee approved procurement of 10,000 metric tonnes of lentils through the national Open Tender Method (OTM) at a cost of around Taka 71.87 crore, with the price fixed at Tk 71.87 per kg.

The proposal was placed by the Ministry of Commerce, with Payel Automatic Food Processing Mills, Chattogram, selected as the supplier.

The committee also approved the import of 1,35,75,000 litres of refined soybean oil under the International Direct Procurement Method (DPM) at a cost of around Tk178.47 crore, with the per-litre price set at Tk 131.47.

The soybean oil will be imported from Thailand through Prime Corp World Company Limited.

Meanwhile, a separate proposal to procure soybean oil through national tender was withdrawn at the request of the Ministry of Commerce.