Govt to procure 33.60 lakh MMBtu LNG, 18.50 lakh MTs fuel oil

The government today (27 December) approved separate proposals for procuring some 33.60 lakh MMBtu LNG, 18.50 lakh metric tons of fuel oil, 1 lakh tonnes of wheat and 1.10 crore litres of edible oil to meet the growing demand of the country.

The government also approved different proposals for purchasing 14,000 tonnes of lentil and 60,000 tonnes of fertilizer.

The approvals came from the 43rd meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) in this year held today virtually with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Division Additional Secretary Sayeed Mahbub Khan said that the day's meeting approved a total of 20 proposals.

He informed that the day's meeting also approved power tariff for four proposed power plants.

Mahbub said following a proposal from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, Petrobangla would procure 33.60 lakh MMBtu LNG from M/S Excelerate Energy LP, USA with around Taka 542.27 crore while in another proposal, Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) would procure some 18.50 lakh tonnes of refined fuel oil with around Tk15,082.86 crore for January to June period of 2024 on G to G basis.

He said as per two separate proposals from the Ministry of Food, the Directorate General of Food would procure some 50,000 tonnes of wheat from M/S Cereal Crops Trading LLC, UAE under international open tender method under package 5 with around Tk175.05 crore where per kg wheat would cost Tk35.01.

The Directorate General of Food would procure another consignment of 50,000 metric tons of wheat from M/S Agrocorp International Pte Ltd., Singapore also under international open tender method under package six with around Tk173.41 crore where per kg wheat would cost Tk34.68.

Mahbub said following two separate proposals from the Ministry of Commerce, the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) would procure 6,000 tonnes of lentil from Islam Trading, Chattogram under local open tender method for the current fiscal year (FY24) with around Tk62.28 crore where per kg lentil would cost Tk103.08.

In another proposal, the TCB would procure 8,000 tonnes of lentil under international open tender method from Green National Builders and Developers, Bangalore with around Tk77.88 crore where per kg lentil would cost Tk102.36.

The Cabinet Division additional secretary said in two other proposals, the TCB would procure 60 lakh litres of rice bran oil from Majumdar Products Ltd and MRT Agro Products BD Ltd under local direct procurement method with around Tk94.50 crore where per liter oil would cost Tk157.5 while the TCB would purchase 50 lakh liters of soybean oil from Bashundhara Multi Food Products Ltd under local open tender method with around Tk78.61 crore where per liter oil would cost Tk157.22.

He said following two separate proposals from the Ministry of Industries, the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) would procure 30,000 tonnes of bulk granular urea fertilizer under the 8th lot from Muntajat, Qatar, under state-level agreement with around Tk105.01 crore while the BCIC would procure another consignment of 30,000 metric tons of bagged granular urea fertilizer under the 11th lot from KAFCO, Bangladesh with around Tk104.93 crore

Mahbub said that the day's CCGP meeting approved the power tariff for the 240MW (AC) Solar Power Plant to be set up at Trishal upazila in Mymensingh district. Under the proposal, the government would have to provide Tk8,553.60 crore to the joint venture of Energon Renewables BD Ltd; and PWR Energy Trading LLC for a 20-year period where per kilowatt our electricity would cost Taka 10.995.

The meeting also approved the power tariff for the 100 MW (AC) solar power plant to be set up at Mongla upazila in Bagerhat district where the government would have to provide Tk3,564 crore for a 20-year period to the Consortium of Asian Entech Power Corporation Ltd and Axia Power Holdings BV where per kilowatt hour electricity would cost Tk10.99.

The CCGP meeting also okayed the power tariff for the 30MW (AC) solar power plant at Chakaria upazila in Cox's Bazar district and 50MW (AC) solar power plant at Cox's Bazar Sadar Upazila.

Apart from these, the day's meeting approved two proposals from the Local Government Division and one proposal each from the Road Transport and Highways Division, Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.