TDS Desk:

The government today approved separate proposals for procuring some 90,000 metric tons (MTs) of fertilizer and 20,000 MTs of lentil to meet the growing demand of the country.

The approvals came from the maiden meeting of the purchase committee of the interim government with Adviser on Ministries of Finance and Commerce Dr Salehuddin Ahmed in the chair held at the Cabinet Division conference room at Bangladesh Secretariat here in the morning.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, the Finance Adviser said the day’s meeting approved a total of four proposals for procuring fertilizer and lentil.

“We won’t allow declining the supply of fertilizer in the country,” he said.

Dr Salehuddin also informed that the consignments of fertilizer and lentil would be brought to the country as early as possible.

Cabinet Division officials said following three separate proposals from the Ministry of Industries, the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) would procure some 30,000 MTs of bulk granular urea fertilizer from Fertiglobe Distribution Limited, the UAE under state-level agreement under the 11th lot in FY24 with around Taka 121.95 crore with per ton fertilizer costing US$344.50.

The BCIC will purchase 30,000 MTs of bagged granular urea fertilizer from KAFCO, Bangladesh with around Taka 117.79 crore for the current fiscal year (FY25) with per ton fertilizer to cost $332.75 while the BCIC would procure another consignment of 30,000 MTs of bulk granular urea fertilizer from Muntajat, Qatar under the first lot of state-level agreement for the current fiscal year (FY25) with around Taka 120.06 crore with per ton fertilizer costing $339.17.

In response to another proposal from the Ministry of Commerce, the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) would procure 20,000 MTs of lentil from Nabil Naba Food Products Ltd. Dhaka under local Open Tender Method (OTM) with around Taka 203.72 crore with per kilogram of lentil costing Taka 101.86.