Another 1 lakh tonnes of rice on way
The government has given the go-ahead to import 1.5 lakh tonnes of food grains to boost stocks and tackle a recent price spiral.
Yesterday, the cabinet committee on purchase approved three deals on food grain import, including 1 lakh tonnes of wheat and 50,000 tonnes of boiled rice.
Half of the wheat will be supplied by Switzerland-based commodity trader Aston FFI for $251 per tonne and the rest by Singapore-based Agrocorp International for $249.31 per tonne.
Besides, the committee also approved a proposal for importing 50,000 tonnes of boiled rice for $411.11 per tonne. The rice will be supplied by Dubai-based Phoenix Commodities, who was the lowest bidder.
The development comes as rice production suffered major losses due to flash floods and fungal attacks.
Flash floods in six northeastern haor districts and fungal attacks (rice blast) in 19 districts during the Boro season have led to the loss of 20 lakh tonnes of the crop, according to the food ministry.
At least 20 districts in the north and elsewhere in the country have been flooded over the past few days. As a result, the Aman crop may also be affected.
Against this backdrop, a cabinet committee meeting last week decided to import 20 lakh tonnes of food grains -- 15 lakh tonnes of rice and 5 lakh tonnes of wheat -- this fiscal year.
This is an 11 lakh tonne-addition to the government's earlier projected food import volume of 9 lakh tonnes.
Over the past two months, the cabinet committee approved the proposal for floating tender to import 3.5 lakh tonnes of rice.
Besides, the government is importing 2.5 lakh tonnes of rice from Vietnam on a government-to-government basis.
The food ministry also recently signed a deal with Cambodia to import up to 10 lakh tonnes of rice in the next five years. About 2.5 lakh tonnes of the staple will reach Bangladesh by October this year.
Fuel import from India
The cabinet committee on purchase yesterday approved the import of 1.64 lakh barrels of diesel from Shiliguri in India with premium of $5.5 per barrel.
The fuel will be transported on wagons via railway to the Parbatipur depot in Bangladesh from the Shiliguri terminal, said an official of the energy ministry.
In future too, oil will be imported to Bangladesh through pipelines from Shiliguri, he added.
Meanwhile, another committee -- the cabinet committee on economic affairs -- yesterday approved a draft agreement for importing fuel to Parbatipur from the Shiliguri marketing terminal of Numaligarh Refinery through the Indo-Bangla Friendship pipeline.
The cabinet committee on purchase also approved various packages of rail line construction on the Dohazari-Cox's Bazar-Ghundhum route. The work for three components of the route will cost Tk 6,766 crore.