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The interim government mulls over making a rice-import pact with the government of India in order to help keep the former's distribution channel functioning, official sources said.
The import of rice has been planned under a government to government (G2G) arrangement amid a chill in diplomatic relations between the two neighboring countries.
At present, there is no such agreement between the two countries in this regard, they mentioned.
Presently, Bangladesh procures rice from India through international open tenders, according to them.
The food ministry of Bangladesh has requested the country's foreign affairs ministry last month to take necessary steps for singing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for import of rice from India under G2G arrangement.
Under the planned deal, the food ministry wants to import non-basmati parboiled rice at cheaper price from the neighbor country.
Nine Indian firms including Kendriya Bhandar have shown interest to export rice to Bangladesh, an official of the Directorate General of Food said.
Bangladesh imports significant amounts of rice from India to address its rising price trends and replenish the public food stocks.
A senior official at the Directorate General of Food said since there is no such MoU with the neighboring India to this effect, so Bangladesh cannot import rice from the country under G2G basis.
The food ministry now imports rice from international sources apart from its procurement from domestic sources for the sake of the country's food security and the government's smooth food operations.
About the proposed pact with the Indian government, Deputy Secretary (Procurement Section) at the Ministry of Food Ariful Islam said the ministry of Foreign Affairs has already been requested to take necessary step in this connection.
The G2G method is followed along with the international open tender in the case of procuring rice from international sources by the government.
Currently, Bangladesh has MoUs with Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, Cambodia and Pakistan for the purpose of importing rice through the G2G channel.
"Since there is no MoU between the Bangladesh and India, the Bangladesh government is interested in signing a MoU with the government of India," said a food ministry official.
Now, Bangladesh government imports rice from the neighboring nation by international tender, he added.
Besides, private sector traders also imports the staple from the neighbor state on the basis of permission and approval from the authorities concerned to help keep its smooth in the local market. The government has a plan to import about 0.8 million tonnes of rice for the current fiscal year.
Besides, the government has also decided to procure 1.4 million tonnes of rice and 0.5 million tonnes of paddy from the domestic sources in the ongoing Boro season.
Usually, the government procures the highest quantity of rice from domestic sources during the Boro season.
Until June 3, 2025, the government warehouses have total stocks of more than 1.51 million tonnes of food grains.
The stocks include over 1.147 million tonnes of rice, 0.301 million tonnes of wheat and 0.102 million tonne of paddy, according to the latest data of the food ministry.
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