Govt to procure 33.60 lakh MMBtu LNG, 1.60cr liter soybean oil

The government has approved separate proposals for procuring 33.60 lakh MMBtu LNG, 1.60 crore litres of soybean oil, 1 lakh tonnes of MOP fertiliser and 8,000 tonnes of lentil to meet the growing demand of the country.

This approval came from the 25th meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) this year held Wednesday virtually with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair.

Briefing reporters after the meeting virtually, Cabinet Division additional secretary Md Amin Ul Islam said that the day's meeting approved a total of 17 proposals.

He said that following a proposal from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, Petrobangla would procure one cargo or 33.60 lakh MMBtu LNG from M/S TotalEnergies Gas & Power Ltd., Switzerland with around Tk 478.63 crore per MMBtu LNG costing $11.37.

In another proposal from the Ministry of Food, the Directorate General of Food would procure some 50,000 tonnes of wheat under package-1 through the international open tender method from M/S Agrocorp International PTE Ltd Singapore with around Tk 162.86 crore with, per tonne of wheat costing $297.47.

Following two separate proposals from the Ministry of Agriculture, Amin said that Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) would procure 50,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser under state-level agreement under the 9th lot from Canadian Commercial Corporation with around Tk 173.72 crore.

The BADC will also purchase another consignment of 50,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser under a state-level agreement under the 10th lot from Canadian Commercial Corporation with around Tk 173.72 crore.

Following a proposal from the Ministry of Commerce, the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) would procure some 8,000 metric tons of lentils from Arbel Bakliyat Hububat Santic AS Cumhuriyet, Turkey under, international open tender method for the current fiscal year (FY24) with around Tk 71.94 crore where per kg lentil would cost Tk 94.98.

Following two other proposals from the Ministry of Commerce, the TCB would procure some 80 lakh litres of soybean oil under the international open tender method for the current fiscal year from Bashundhara Multi Food Products Ltd with around Tk 127.56 crore.

The TCB will also procure another consignment of 80 lakh litres of soybean oil from Bashundhara Multi Food Products Ltd under the local open tender method at around Tk 127.04 crore with per litre of soybean oil costing Tk 158.80.

The Cabinet Division additional secretary said that following a proposal from the Power Division, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) would procure power from the Consortium of Ask New Energy Co Ltd; AJ Power Co Ltd ATN Solutions Ltd under no electricity no payment arrangement for 20 years at the 50MW Solar Power Plant at Dimla Upazila in Nilphamari where the tariff would be Tk 10.698 kilowatt per hour with an overall amount of Tk 1,732.80 crore.

He said that the CCGP meeting also approved a proposal from the Power Division under which the tenure of the Ashulia 33.75MW power plant, Madhabdi 24.30 MW power plant and Chandina 13.50 MW gas-fired power plant have been extended by five years.

For the extended period, the BPDB will have to purchase power from Summit Power Limited at Tk 5.65 per kilowatt hour unit with an overall amount of Tk 1,118 crore.

The CCGP meeting also approved separate proposals from the Local Government Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Housing and Public Works, Ministry of Shipping and Bridges Division.

/KN/