Govt to import another 50,000 tonnes of rice from India

The interim government will import another 50,000 tonnes of rice from India to increase the country's food stocks.

Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed approved a proposal in this regard at a meeting of a government advisory committee on purchase at Bangladesh Secretariat in the capital today.

The food ministry would import the rice through SAEL Agri Commodities Ltd, India at a cost of $471.6 per tonne.

Earlier, on November 6, the committee had approved the import of 50,000 tonnes of rice through Indian enterprise Pattabhi Agro Foods Private Limited at $477 per tonne.

According to the food ministry data, the country had a stock of 12.36 lakh tonnes of food grains as of November 20, of which 8.08 lakh tonnes were rice.

The government undertook the move to address the depletion of stocks as food distribution progammes were running in full swing to meet demand amidst high inflation.

Overall, the government plans to initially import a total of 5 lakh tonnes of rice for this fiscal year of 2024-25 through government-to-government arrangements and open tenders, according to a food ministry official.

The amount of import may rise if prices in the market increase, he added.

The government plans to distribute 20.52 lakh tonnes of food grains through various channels in the current fiscal year of 2024-25.

Of it, 8 lakh tonnes of rice will be collected from the local market during the ongoing Aman season. A higher amount will be sourced during the Boro season early next year.

Up until November 14, the food ministry distributed 9.32 lakh tonnes of rice.

Yesterday, the government also approved separate proposals for the purchase of two cargoes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and 2.30 lakh tonnes of fertiliser in a bid to meet growing demand in the country.

Each cargo is equivalent to 33.60 lakh MMBtu (million British thermal units).

Petrobangla has settled on procuring the LNG from Vitol Asia Pte Ltd in Singapore on floating an international quotation. One cargo will cost $14.55 per MMBtu and the other $14.42 per MMBtu.

Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) would procure 110,000 tonnes of Muriate of Potassium fertiliser from Russia and Canada.

Of it, 30,000 tonnes will be bought from Russian JSC Foreign Economic Corporation "Prodintorg" under a state-level agreement at a cost of $289.75 per tonne.

Similarly, the remaining 80,000 tonnes will be bought from Canadian Commercial Corporation under two state-level agreements at $289.75 per tonne.

Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation would procure another 90,000 tonnes of granular urea fertiliser and 30,000 tonnes of prilled urea fertiliser, both in bulk.

The meeting also approved a proposal for appointing e-Learning and Earning Ltd, Dhaka as the training firm with around Tk 297.16 crore for imparting training on freelancing for some 28,800 youths under a project.