The government has allowed 10 private companies to import 1.05 lakh tonnes of boiled rice to control the rice market in the country.
A letter of permission was sent from the Food Ministry to the Secretary of the Commerce Ministry on Sunday (January 3).
The letter states that boiled rice, which is not basmati with a maximum of five percent broken grains, can be imported conditionally.
After verifying and selecting, the letter was issued for 10 private companies among the several applicants.
Of these companies, Hena Enterprise of Joypurhat 10,000 tonnes, Renu Construction of Dinajpur 15,000 tonnes, Kazi Sobhan Trading Corporation of Khulna 10,000 tonnes, Alal Agro Food Products 10,000 and Alal Enterprise of Bogra 5,000 tonnes, Deepto Enterprise of Naogaon 10,000 tonnes, Akash Enterprise 10000 tonnes, Ghosh Automatic Rice Mill 15,000 tonnes, M/S Nurul Islam 10,000 tonnes, and Jagdish Chandra Roy has been allowed to import 10,000 tonnes.
In terms of rice imports, it is directed that the Letter of Credit (LC) must be opened within seven days of the issuance of this allotment. The Food Ministry should be informed about all the LC opening immediately. Among the traders who have been allotted 5,000 tonnes, they have to import and market (distribute) 50 percent of the rice within 10 days of opening the LC and the rest within 20 days.
The ministry has also stipulated that the companies that have been allotted 10,000 to 20,000 tonnes will have to import and distribute half of their rice to the local market within 15 days of opening the LC and the rest within 30 days.
Meanwhile, the price of rice has gone up again. The price of rice has increased from Tk 3 to Tk 6 per kg in a week. In the last 10 days, the price of Rashid Miniket rice has gone up by around Tk 300 to Tk 400 per sack (50 kg).
A few days ago Miniket rice price was Tk 58 per kg which has now gone up to Tk 65 to Tk 68 in 10 to 12 days. Per sack minicat rice price is now Tk 3,600. Besides, Atash rice price has also increased from Tk 48 to Tk 55 now.
