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The cabinet committee on government purchase (CCGP) on Tuesday approved a number of proposals mostly for import of liquefied natural gas (LNG), fertilisers, edible oils and lentils.
Finance minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali chaired the meeting, its first under the newly formed government, at the secretariat.
As approved, the Petrobangla has been allowed to import 3.36 MMBtu LNG from M/S Total Energies Gas & Power Ltd of Switzerland.
The import will cost the exchequer Tk 4.70 billion where each MMBtu LNG will cost $10.88.
The meeting also approved import of 260,000 tonnes of fertiliser to meet the demand amid a fall in production due to gas crunch.
Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) was given the green light to import 40,000 tonnes of DAP fertiliser from MA'ADEN, Saudi Arabia, at Tk 2.59 billion.
Each tonne of fertiliser will cost $589.
The BADC will also import 30,000 tonnes of TSP fertiliser from OCP, SA, Morocco, at Tk 1.27 billion, costing each tonne $386.
It was also given the go-ahead to import 40,000 tonnes of DAP fertiliser from the same source at Tk 2.409 billion, costing each tonne $547.50.
The BADC also got the nod to import 30,000 tonnes of MoP fertiliser from JSC Foreign Economic Cooperation (Prodintorg), Russia, under another proposal forwarded by agriculture ministry.
The import will cost nearly Tk 997 million, with each tonne fertiliser priced at $302.10.
As per a proposal by industries ministry, the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) was allowed to import 30,000 tonnes of bulk granular urea from Muntajat, Qatar, at Tk 1.03 billion.
Each tonne of fertiliser will cost $313.42.
The BCIC was also okayed to import 30,000 tonnes of bagged granular urea from KAFCO Bangladesh at Tk 1.04 billion, with each tone costing $316.62.
The corporation, which produces fertilisers by operating multiple factories, has also been allowed to import 30,000 tonnes of bulk granular urea from Saudi SABIC Agri-Nutrients Company at Tk 1.03 billion.
Amid spiralling prices of essential commodities, the meeting approved the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) to import rice-bran oil and lentil to sell them at subsidised rates among the needy.
In three separate proposals, the TCB will buy 12 million litres of rice-bran oil from Majumdar Products Ltd, Majumdar Bran Oil Mills Ltd, and Ali Natural Oil Mills & Agro Industries Ltd under the direct procurement method at Tk 1.89 billion.
Each litre of oil will cost Tk 158.
It will also buy 10,000 tonnes of lentil from Uma Expo Pvt Ltd, India, at Tk 1.01 per kg and 10,000 tonnes of lentil from Roy Agro Food Products Ltd, Bogura, and Nabil Naba Foods Ltd, Dhaka, at Tk 1.05 per kg.
syful-islam@outlook.com