The commerce ministry will purchase 50 lakh litres of soybean oil and 27,000 tonnes of lentils to sell those at affordable price among low-income groups of people.

The cabinet committee on purchase at a meeting today presided over by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal approved proposals amounting to Tk 344 crore for the purchase of the two essential food items.

The oil will be purchased locally by the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) from City Edible Oil Ltd at a cost of Tk 77.14 crore through open tender method.

The TCB will also purchase 6,000 tonnes of lentils through open tender method from another local company, Roy Traders, for Tk 60.59 crore.

Besides, 11,000 tonnes of lentils will be purchased locally from the Global Corporation and Traders at a cost of Tk 110 crore and another 10,000 tonnes will be imported from Turkey at a cost of Tk 97 crore.

The government on Tuesday started selling soybean oil, potatoes, onions and lentils at subsidised rates in Dhaka to alleviate the suffering of low-income consumers, especially those without TCB family cards.

The programme will run alongside the monthly sale of subsidised essentials conducted by the state-run TCB among one crore family cardholders across the country.

The special initiative has been taken to stabilise commodity prices in the capital's kitchen markets.

The goods will be sold on 30 OMS (open market sale) trucks stationed at different locations throughout both city corporations, with the goal of reaching 9,000 beneficiaries on the weekdays.

Soybean oil will be sold at Tk 100 per litre, potato at Tk 30 per kilogramme (kg), onion at Tk 50 a kg and lentil at Tk 60 per kg.

A consumer can purchase a maximum of two kgs of each item.

Meanwhile, the cabinet committee on economic affairs at a meeting yesterday approved a proposal for importing 38 lakh tonnes of refined petroleum products under a government-to-government arrangement in 2024.

At its meeting, the purchase committee also approved separate proposals to import 30,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser from Saudi Arabia at a cost of Tk 126.32 crore, 30,000 tonnes of triple superphosphate fertiliser from Morocco at a cost of Tk 136.53 crore, and 40,000 tonnes of diammonium phosphate fertiliser from Morocco at a cost of Tk 251.97 crore.