TCB to buy 1.25cr litres of edible oil from 4 local firms

The government has approved a proposal from the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) to purchase 1.25 crore litres of soybean oil from four local companies.

The purchased edible oil will be sold to one crore family cardholders across the country at a subsidised price.

The procurement will be done through the direct purchase method (DPM) without any tender process with a cost of Tk 225.13 crore.

The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) at a meeting on Wednesday approved the procurement proposal placed by the commerce ministry in this regard.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the virtual meeting, joined by members of the committee. Additional Cabinet Secretary Abdul Bari briefed the media after the meeting.

According to the proposal, some 40 lakh litres of edible oil will be purchased from the local manufacturer Super Oil Refinery Ltd at a cost of Tk 173.95 per litre. This amounts to a total of Tk 79.78 crore from the company owned by TK Group.

In another lot, 85 lakh litres of oil from three other local companies at a total cost of Tk 145.35 crore. This purchase is at Tk 171 per litre.

Among the three companies are — 35 lakh litre from Bashundhara Multi Food Products Limited, 20 lakh litre from Sanafi Edible Limited, and 30 lakh from Shun Shing Edible Oil Limited.

The TCB will sell the edible oil in bottles, each having two litres of oil.