BPC to buy 150,000 tonnes marine fuel for Tk 438.8cr
The cabinet yesterday approved proposals to buy 150,000 tonnes of marine fuel for Tk 438.8 crore for the July-December period.
In a meeting, the cabinet committee on purchase approved the premium and price to import 75,000 tonnes of marine fuel through international tenders during the second half of the year. The cost would be Tk 222.1 crore.
The committee gave the go-ahead at a virtual meeting with Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in the chair.
Marine fuel is heavy residual fuel oils used in the majority of motor ships.
On 23 May, the economic affairs committee approved a proposal from the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) to buy 50 per cent of marine fuel through government-to-government arrangements and the rest through international tenders from May to December.
Accordingly, when the government floated the tenders to import marine fuel containing 0.5 per cent Sulphur for July to December, four companies submitted bids and all of them were responsive.
As per a recommendation of the tender evaluation committee, the lowest bidder, ENOC Singapore Pte, got the contract.
BPC has never imported marine fuel containing 0.5 per cent sulphur. The International Maritime Organisation made it mandatory to use marine fuel with 0.5 per cent sulphur from 1 January this year, the finance ministry said in a press release.
The meeting also gave its consent to buy another 75,000 tonnes marine fuel (0.5 per cent sulphur) under a government-to-government arrangement in July to December. It will cost Tk 216.7 crore.
Six suppliers submitted bid and four of them were responsive. The tender evaluation committee recommended to award the contract to the lowest bidder PTT International Trading Pte.
The government is buying marine fuel on G-to-G basis since it is cost-effective and the international price of the fuel is low, Kamal said, while briefing reporters virtually.
When asked whether the government would adjust the price of fuel in the local market in line with the drastic fall in oil price in the international market, he said the energy ministry looks into the matter.
The meeting consented to a proposal to print, bind and supply 7.2 crore textbooks of Bangla and English versions for the classes of III, IV and V for 2021. The contract involved Tk 132.4 crore.
The cabinet committee on economic affairs approved a proposal to build a bridge over the Meghna river in a move that would fast-track Bangladesh's communication with India's eastern part.
The cost of the bridge on the Bhulta Araihazar-Banchharampur road would be about Tk 7,000 crore and would be built under a public-private partnership arrangement
The bridge would establish a faster communication between Brahmanbaria district in Bangladesh and Agartala in India, the finance ministry said in the statement.
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