Govt to procure 67.20 lakh MMBtu LNG, 1 lakh MT wheat

The government will procure some 67.20 lakh MMBtu LNG, 1 lakh metric tons of wheat and 60,000 metric tons of fertiliser to meet the growing demand in the country.

Proposals for the procurements were approved at the 34th meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) this year held virtually on Wednesday with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair.

Briefing reporters virtually after the meeting, the finance minister said that the day's CCGP meeting approved a total of seven proposals. He said the price of LNG in the international market is rising every now and then for which the government has decided to procure such a volume of LNG which would meet the country's demand up to December this year.

Kamal said since the price of LNG in the international market is witnessing an uptrend, so the government has decided to buy 67.20 lakh MMBtu LNG to meet the required demand up to December.

Joining the briefing virtually after the meeting, Cabinet Division Additional Secretary Md Shamsul Arefin said that Petrobangla under the Energy and Mineral Resources Division would procure 33.60 lakh MMBtu LNG from M/S Vitol Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore at a cost of around Taka 1,205.73 crore where the price for per unit MMBtu LNG would be $35.8932.

Besides, Arefin said, Petrobangla would procure another 33.60 lakh MMBtu LNG from Gunvor Singapore Pte Ltd, Singapore at a cost of around Taka 1,241.23 crore where the price for per MMBtu LNG would be $36.9506.

He said that the Directorate General of Food under the Ministry of Food would procure one lakh metric tons of wheat from Russian Federation on a G to G basis at a cost of around Taka 357.62 crore where the price for per metric ton wheat would be $419.

The day's CCGP meeting approved a proposal from the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock for awarding the contract to the joint venture of Agriculture and Finance Consultant, Germany and Services and Solutions International Ltd, Bangladesh as the consultants with Taka 48.25 crore for the Agro Business Planning, Technologies and Marketing Advance and Implementation Support works under the project for the development of livestock and fisheries.

Besides, the CCGP meeting today gave a nod to two separate proposals from the Ministry of Industries under which the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) would procure 30,000 metric tons of bulk granular urea fertilizer from Fertiglobe Distribution Limited, UAE under a state-level agreement with around Taka 127.67 crore.

In another proposal, the BCIC would procure 30,000 metric tons of bagged prield urea fertilizer from Muntajat, Qatar also under state-level agreement at a cost of around Taka 129.85 crore.

Apart from these, the meeting approved a proposal from the Ministry of Housing and Public Works for awarding the contract of Lot No-1(B) to Noorani Construction Limited for setting up Narsingdi District Jail with around Taka 69.83 crore.