Bangladesh to import 14.90 lakh tonnes of refined fuel oil in six months

The Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) will import 14.90 lakh tonnes of refined fuel oil for over Tk8,417 crore during the January-June period of this year to meet the growing demand in the country's irrigation season.

Six state-owned enterprises – PTTT Thailand, ENOC UAE, PetroChina, BSP Indonesia, PTLCL Malaysia and UNIPEC China – will supply the fuel on a government-to-government (G2G) basis.

The approval came from this year's second meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase held virtually with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair on Wednesday.

In a virtual briefing on the outcome of the meeting, Kamal told journalists that the cabinet committee approved a total of 13 proposals involving Tk10,794.84 crore.

Of the cost, Tk9,589.66 crore will come from the government and Tk1,205.18 crore will be borrowed from India, he added.

Of the proposals, seven were from the shipping ministry, three from the Power Division, two from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division and one from the Information and Communication Technology Division.

Apart from the refined fuel purchase proposal, the meeting approved another proposal of the BPC to import 90,000 tonnes of diesel from India's state-run Numaligarh Refinery Ltd at a cost of Tk512.48 crore.

The Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority got approval to construct eight steel structure multi-purpose buildings in eight districts at a cost of Tk1,205.18 crore. LARSEN and TOUBRO Limited India will implement the construction work.

According to one of the proposals, the Bangladesh Power Development Board will procure 32,400 SPC Pole from joint venture Charka SPC Poles Ltd, Dada Engineering Ltd and Confidence Infrastructure Ltd at a cost of Tk31.36 crore.

The board will also procure 32,396 SPC Pole from joint venture Charka SPC Poles Ltd, Confidence Infrastructure Limited and Poles and Concrete Ltd for Tk31.35 crore. 

The cabinet committee also approved the proposal of the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board to procure 13,040 distribution transformers at Tk71.99 crore.

The meeting also approved five proposals of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority to procure the excavation work of the Punarbhaba River.

The Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) also got the go-ahead to procure two high-capacity tugboats from Cheoy Lee Shipyards Ltd, Hong Kong for Tk188.39 crore.

Another proposal of Mongla Port Authority to procure two high-capacity tugboats from Cheoy Lee Shipyards Ltd, Hong Kong at a cost of Tk222.89 crore also received approval.