TCB to procure 1.10cr litres soyabean oil, 8,000 tonnes lentil for Ramzan

Staff Reporter :
The government has decided to procure 1.10 crore litres soybean oil and 8,000 tonnes lentil for the state-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) to sell it during the upcoming holy month of Ramzan.
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase passed a total of 15 proposals, including two purchase proposals from the commerce ministry, in a meeting held on Wednesday chaired by Agriculture Minister Dr Md Abdur Razzaque.
Additional Secretary of the Cabinet Division Sayeed Mahbub Khan briefed journalists after the meeting and said that about Tk 267.85 crore will be needed to purchase the soybean oil and lentil.
Of them, Tk 1,94,56,80,000 will be needed to buy 1.10 crore litres soybean oil and Tk 73.28 crore for lentil, he said.
According to Sayeed Mahbub Khan, “Each litre of soybean oil has been fixed at Tk 176.88, which price was Tk 177 per litre.”
The government will purchase the oil locally from the Meghna Edible Oil Refinery Limited, he added.
He, however, said that the proposal to procure 8,000 tonnes of lentils was approved by the committee and the commodity will be bought from the local agent of a Turkish company at Tk 91.60 a kg.
Asked if the authorities had any plans to reduce the prices of the essentials ahead of Ramazan, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi said the government needs to
purchase (goods) almost every month for the TCB. “We’re using open tenders to buy more soybean oil and lentils as Ramzan is approaching,” he added.
Earlier on January 19, The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase had approved the procurement of same amount of commodities like 1.10 crore litres of soybean oil and 8,000 tonnes of lentils for the TCB.
This year’s holy month of Ramazan is likely to begin on March 24.
It also approved two proposals from the Rural Electrification Board to purchase equipment from BRB Cables at around Tk 214.08 crore for its upgrading project in Dhaka and Mymensingh.
Five variation proposals from the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority worth over Tk 40 crore under its ‘Construction and Delivery of Medium, Utility Type and Rocket Ghat Pontoon for 35 Vessel Project’ received the approval of the Cabinet body.