TDS DESK:

The government on Tuesday approved separate proposals for procuring one cargo LNG, one lakh metric tons of fertilizer and 6,000 metric tons of lentil to meet the growing demand of the country.

The approvals came from the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase’s (CCGP) 14th meeting this year held today at the Cabinet Division Conference Room at Bangladesh Secretariat with Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali in the chair.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Division additional secretary Zaheda Parveen said that the day’s meeting approved a total of 11 proposals.

She informed that following a proposal from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, Petrobangla would procure one cargo LNG from M/S Gunvor Singapore Pte Ltd. Singapore with around Taka 601.64 crore where per MMBtu LNG would cost $12.96 against the previous price of $10.30.

In response to another proposal from the Ministry of Commerce, the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) would procure 6,000 metric tons of lentil under local Open Tender Method (OTM) from Roy Agro Food Products Ltd, Ranirhat, Sajahanpur, Bogura with around Taka 60.47 crore with per kg lentil costing Taka 100.79 against the previous price of Taka 101.33.

Zaheda said following a proposal from the Ministry of Industries, the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) would procure 30,000 metric tons of bulk granular urea fertilizer from Qatar Chemical and Petrochemical Marketing and Distribution Company (Muntajat), QPJSC, Qatar under the 14th lot under state-level agreement for FY24 with around Taka 98.78 crore with per ton fertilizer costing $280 against the previous price of $279.67.

She said in two separate proposals from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) would procure 30,000 metric tons of TSP fertilizer from OCP, SA, Morocco under state-level agreement with around Taka 134.52 crore with per ton fertilizer costing $380.50 against the previous price of $379.50.

In another proposal, the BADC will procure 40,000 metric tons of DAP fertilizer under the 6th lot under state-level agreement from MA’ADEN, Saudi Arabia with around Taka 244.65 crore where per ton fertilizer would cost the same $519 which remained previously.

The Cabinet Division additional secretary said the day’s CCGP meeting approved a proposal from the Ministry of Housing and Public Works under which the work on “Construction of 12-storied Export Promotion House with 3 basements including internal sanitary, internal electrification and ancillary works at Agargaon, Dhaka (Tender ID: 968414)” has been awarded to UCCL The United Construction Company Limited with around Taka 156.60 crore.

She said in response to another proposal from the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, the meeting awarded the work on “Establishment of 500 Bed Hospital and ancillary buildings in Jashore, Cox’s Bazar, Pabna and Abdul Malek Ukil Medical College (AMUMC) and Jononeta Nurul Hoque Adhunik Hospital, Noakhali (Sub-head: Construction of Hospital Building (10 storied Foundation in/c Single Basement) One at Pabna (Tender ID: 921183) to Sazin Construction Ltd. 368/3, Senpara Parbata, Mirpur-10, Dhaka-1216, Bangladesh with around Taka 247.99 crore.

The CCGP meeting also approved three variation proposals from the Ministry of Housing and Public Works and one variation proposal from the Road Transport and Highways Division.

Prior to the CCGP meeting, the 11th meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) this year was held today with Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali in the chair.

The meeting approved a proposal in principle from the Ministry of Science and Technology under which one sample collecting boat, two speedboats and one jetty and gangway with pontoon would be procured under the DPM method above the price ceiling mentioned in the 76(2) Section of the PPR, 2008 for conducting state ocean research and survey.

Besides, Zaheda said the meeting approved partially a proposal in principle from the Ministry of Commerce under which the timeframe for procuring various products by the TCB has been reduced.

The timeframe for procuring products by the TCB under international OTM method has been reduced from 42 days to 15 days while that of local OTM method reduced from 28 days to 14 days. Source: BSS