Govt to procure 1 crore litres soybean oil, 10,000mt lentils

The government on Tuesday approved separate proposals to procure one crore litres of refined soybean oil and 10,000 metric tonnes of lentils to help stabilise the market ahead of the holy month of Ramadan.

It also approved the procurement of 75,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser alongside proposals in the roads sector and the purchase of one small research vessel and two speedboats to facilitate oceanographic research.

The approval came from the 4th meeting of the Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase chaired by Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed at the Cabinet Division Conference Room at the Bangladesh Secretariat.

Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan briefed reporters after the meeting.

He said lentils will be procured from KBC Agro Products Private Limited, a local Bangladeshi company, while soybean oil will be sourced from Super Refinery Limited and Shabnam Vegetable Oil Industries Ltd at an estimated cost is Tk 70.96 crore.

To keep edible oil prices stable, the committee also approved the procurement of one crore litres of refined soybean oil at an estimated cost of Tk 185.92 crore.

Under the proposal, 50 lakh litres will be procured from Super Oil Refinery Limited at Tk 185.95 per litre, while the remaining 50 lakh litres will come from Shabnam Vegetable Oil Industries Ltd at Tk 185.90 per litre.

Fouzul said two proposals from the Ministries of Industries and Agriculture for procuring urea and MOP fertiliser were also approved to support agricultural production.

Under the proposal from the Ministry of Industries, 40,000 metric tonnes of bulk granular urea fertiliser will be imported from Fertiglobe Distribution Limited of the UAE at a cost of Tk 201.22 crore, with the per-tonne price set at $410.

Besides, under a state-level agreement placed by the Ministry of Agriculture, 35,000 metric tonnes of MOP fertiliser will be imported from Russia through JSC Prodintorg at a total cost of Tk 151.56 crore.

The Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) will import the fertiliser at a per-tonne cost of $352.93.

In line with the government's Blue Economy initiative, Fouzul said a proposal from the Ministry of Science and Technology to procure one research vessel and two speedboats was approved.

The committee cleared a Tk 161.71 crore proposal for procuring one small research vessel for sample collection and two speedboats for the Bangladesh Oceanographic Research Institute, to be supplied by Khulna Shipyard Limited.

The meeting also approved reprocessing a procurement proposal for a major road project connecting Lakshmipur, Noakhali and Feni districts with the National Special Economic Zone, aimed at improving regional connectivity and industrial growth.    �"UNB