With an to ensure use of iodised salt for all, the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSIC) has reduced the price of potassium iodate (iodine), a vital ingredient for iodised salt.
On 1 January, the price of potassium iodate per kilogramme was fixed at Tk2,500 instead of Tk3,000, said a press release.
BSCIC thinks that the reduction in price will help to take the salt industry one step ahead.
Issuing a letter on 20 January, BSIC general manager and the director of Iodine Deficiency Filling through Iodised Salt-Making Activities Project, Akhil Ranjan Tarafdar, informed officials and salt mill owners in eight zones of BSCIC about the new price.
The price of potassium iodate was reduced from Tk4,700 per kilogramme to Tk3,000 for the same amount once earlier in the 2017-2018 fiscal year,
Mushtaq Hasan, BSIC chairman, gave the directive of reducing the price of potassium iodate again as part of its assistance to salt factories – considering the current situation.
Potassium iodate is not produced in Bangladesh, but is imported from abroad. To iodise a tonne of salt, 70-90 grammes of potassium iodate is required. About 30 tonnes of potassium iodate is used to add iodine to salt every year in the country.
BSIC is the only organisation that imports potassium iodate and supplies it at the price fixed by the government as per the demand of salt factories.
According to the National Salt Policy, BSCIC acts as the patron of the salt industry under the direction of the Ministry of Industries.
BSCIC's Salt Development Programme office in Cox's Bazar provides comprehensive support to salt production in various upazilas of the district and in Banshkhali of Chattogram through 12 salt centres.
