Govt to procure 16.80 lakh tonnes fuel oil, 80 lakh liters soybean oil

The government has approved separate proposals for procuring some 16.80 lakh tonnes (MTs) of refined fuel oil, 80 lakh liters of soybean oil and 8,000 tonnes of lentil to meet the growing demand in the country.

The approvals came from the 24th meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) in this year held on Wednesday virtually with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair.

While briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Division Additional Secretary Sayeed Mahbub Khan virtually said that the meeting approved a total of 14 proposals.

Following a proposal from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, he said Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) would procure some 16.80 lakh tonnes of refined fuel oil with around Taka 12,850.87 crore including premium and reference price from six state-owned enterprises of different countries for July to December period of the current year.

This fuel oil will be procured from PTTT of Thailand, ENOC of the United Arab Emirates, Petrochina of China, BSP of Indonesia, PTLCL of Malaysia and UNIPEC of China.

Mahbub informed that following three separate proposals from the Ministry of Commerce, the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) would procure some 80 lakh liters of soybean oil through local open tendering method from Meghna Edible Oil Refinery Ltd with around Tk 131.16 crore for the current fiscal year with per liter soybean oil costing Tk 158.67 against the previous price of Tk 161.37.

He said the TCB would also procure some 75 lakh liters of rice bran oil through local Direct Procurement Method (DPM) with around Tk 117.75 crore.

The TCB would procure some 8,000 tonnes of lentil under local open tender method for the current fiscal year with around Tk 75.59 crore from Nabil Naba Foods Ltd with per kilogram (kg) lentil costing Tk 83.51 against the previous price of Tk 94.84.

The Cabinet Division additional secretary said following a proposal from the Road Transport and ighways Division, the day's CCGP meeting decided to award the package number WP-01 of the "Kewatkhali Bridge Construction Project in Mymensingh" to the joint venture of CSCEC China and Spectra Engineers, Bangladesh with around Taka 2,137.97 crore.

Besides, he said that the day's purchase committee meeting approved another five proposals from the Road Transport and Highways Division, two proposals from the Local Government Division, and one proposal each from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division and Secondary and Higher Education Division