The government will purchase edible oil, lentil and wheat worth Tk 661.73 crore from local and international market.

Of the amount, Tk 348.46 crore will be spent to buy wheat, while Tk 140.16 crore to buy red lentil and Tk 173.11 crore to purchase edible oil.

The proposals were given approval at the 43rd meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) held on Wednesday with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair.

Following the meeting, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division Sayeed Mahbub Khan briefed journalists about the details of 20 proposals approved by the CCGP.

He informed that the day's meeting also approved power tariff of four proposed power plants.

Mahbub said that following two separate proposals from the Ministry of Food, the Directorate General of Food decided to procure some 50,000 metric tons of wheat from M/s Cereal Crops Trading LLC, UAE under international open tender method under package 5 with around Tk 175.05 crore where per kg wheat would cost Tk 35.01.

The Directorate General of Food would procure another consignment of 50,000 metric tons of wheat from M/S Agrocrop International Pte Ltd, Singapore also under international open tender method under package six with around Tk 173.41 crore where per kg wheat would cost Tk 34.68.

Mahbub said following two separate proposals from the Ministry of Commerce, the state-run Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) would procure 6,000 metric tons of lentil from Islam Trading, Chattogram under local open tender method for the current fiscal year (FY24) with around Tk 62.28 crore where per kg lentil would cost Tk 103.08.

In another proposal, the TCB would procure 8,000 metric tons of lentil under international open tender method from Green National Builders and Developers, Bangalore with around Tk 77.88 crore where per kg lentil would cost Tk 102.36.

The Cabinet Division additional secretary said in two other proposals, the TCB would procure 60 lakh liters of rice bran oil from Mazumdar Products Ltd and MRT Agro Products BD Ltd under local direct procurement method with around Tk 94.50 crore where per liter oil would cost Tk 157.5 while the TCB would purchase 50 lakh liters of soybean oil from Bashundhara Multi Food Products Ltd under local open tender method with around Tk 78.61 crore where per liter oil would cost Tk 157.22.

He said following two separate proposals from the Ministry of Industries, the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) would procure 30,000 metric tons of bulk granular urea fertilizer under the 8th lot from Muntajat, Qatar, under state-level agreement with around Tk 105.01 crore while the BCIC would procure another consignment of 30,000 metric tons of bagged granular urea fertilizer under the 11th lot from KAFCO, Bangladesh with around Tk 104.93 crore

Mahbub said that the day's CCGP meeting approved the power tariff for the 240MW (AC) Solar Power Plant to be set up at Trishal upazila in Mymensingh district. Under the proposal, the government would have to provide Tk 8,553.60 crore to the joint venture of Energon Renewables BD Ltd; and PWR Energy Trading LLC for a 20-year period where per kilowatt our electricity would cost Tk 10.995.

The meeting also approved the power tariff for the 100 MW (AC) solar power plant to be set up at Mongla upazila in Bagerhat district where the government would have to provide Tk 3,564 crore for a 20-year period to the Consortium of Asian Entech Power Corporation Ltd and Axia Power Holdings B.V where per kilowatt hour electricity would cost Tk 10.99.

The CCGP meeting also okayed the power tariff for the 30MW (AC) solar power plant at Chakaria upazila in Cox's Bazar district and 50MW (AC) solar power plant at Cox's Bazar Sadar Upazila.

Apart from these, the day's meeting approved two proposals from the Local Government Division and one proposal each from the Road Transport and Highways Division, Ministry of Shipping and the Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism.