Govt to procure 54.6 lakh tonnes fuel

Staff Reporter :
The government has decided to procure 54.6 tonnes of refined and crude oil and 1.65 crore liters of soybean oil.
The Cabinet Committee on Wednesday in-principle gave the approval for the purchase with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal chaired the virtual meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs and Government Procurement.
Proposal of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) under the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources to procure 16 lakh tonnes of refined oil has given in-principle approval through the direct purchase method (DPM) from Saudi Aramco of Saudi Arabia and ADNOC of Abu Dhabi for the year 2023.
Apart from this, the BPC’s proposal to import 38.6 lakh tonnes of crude oil on a G2G basis for the year 2023 from UAE through DPM has also been given approval.
It is noted that the annual demand of fuel oil in the country is 68 lakh tonnes. Of this, 15 lakh tonnes are refined and the remaining oil is imported as crude.
Cabinet Division Additional Secretary Rahat Anwar briefed journalists after the meeting.
“The government will purchase 1.65 crore litres of soybean oil for Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) under the Ministry of Commerce. Besides, 8,000 tonnes of lentils will also be purchased. The total cost will be Tk 347 crore 99 lakh 41 thousand. Of this, it will need Tk 277 crore 75 thousand for oil and Tk 71 crore for lentil,” he said.
Some 1.10 crore litres of soybean oil will be purchased from Meghna Edible Oil Refinery Limited at a cost of Tk 189.3 crore for TCB, Rahat Anwar said adding that the cost of per litre oil will Tk 172.
Apart from this, Super Oil Refinery Limited will supply 55 lakh tonnes of super palm oil to TCB.
“Price has been fixed at Tk 160 per litre and it will be needed a total of Tk 88 crore to purchase palm oil,” he added.
In addition to giving in-principle approval for the implementation of the “Chattogram Metropolitan Sewerage Project for Patenga Catchment” project on Public Private Partnership (PPP) basis with the aim of developing an environment-friendly sanitation system in Patenga, the southern part of Chattogram city and adjacent areas.
Chattogram WASA under local government department will implement this project.
Besides, the additional secretary said that the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) under the Ministry of Agriculture has approved the proposal to import 50,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser from the Canadian Commercial Corporation for 437 crore 5 lakh 93 thousand 500 taka in the 6th lot under the state level contract.
BADC has also approved the proposal to import 40,000 tonness of DAP fertiliser from OCPSA Morocco in the 9th lot at a cost of Tk302 crore 37 lakh 48 thousand under the contract at the state level.
During the meeting, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board under the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education approved the purchase proposal for printing, binding and supply of 2 crore 48 lakh 35 thousand 990 books from 24 bidders which will cost 78 crore 68 lakh 13 thousand 910 taka.