The government will procure 12,500 tonnes of sugar, and 1.60 lakh tonnes of fertilizer to meet higher demands.
The approval in this regard came from the meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) held virtually with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair on Thursday.
Sayed Mahbub Khan, Cabinet Division Additional Secretary, briefed reporters virtually after the meeting.
He said the CCGP meeting approved a total of 12 proposals.
The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) under the Ministry of Commerce would procure 12,500 tonnes of sugar from Brazil involving a cost of Tk 65.98 crore, he mentioned.
A local company named JMI Export and Import Company would import this from Brazil with a per ton sugar price of $524.21.
At present, sugar is being sold at the rate of Tk 105 to Tk 110 per kg depending on the area in the domestic market and TCB is selling to its beneficiaries at Tk 55.
The remaining amount is being subsidized. Only TCB card holders will get this sugar at subsidized price.
At present there are one crore card holders of TCB, who are getting sugar, rice, pulses and other daily necessities at affordable prices.
Following a proposal from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) would procure some one lakh tonnes of Muriate of Potash (MOP) fertilizer from Belgrade at a cost of Tk 906.69 crore with per ton MOP fertilizer costing $854, the Cabinet Division Additional Secretary said.
Mahbub said Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC), under the Ministry of Industries, would procure some 30,000 metric tons of bulk granular urea fertilizer from Muntajat, Qatar under the 10th lot at a cost of around Taka 201.75 crore. Import of per ton fertilizer would cost $624.17 against the previous rate of $626.67.
The BCIC would procure another 30,000 tonnes of bagged granular urea fertilizer from KAFCO, Bangladesh under the eighth lot at a cost of around Tk 191.03 crore. The price for per ton fertilizer would be $597.37 down from the previous price of $655.