Govt to import 80,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser

The Cabinet Committee on Public Procurement has approved the import of 80,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser from Saudi Arabia and Qatar under government-to-government (G2G) agreements for Tk179.37 crore.

Several proposals were approved at a virtual meeting of the committee on Thursday, along with this proposal.

The meeting was chaired by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal and attended by members of the committee, senior secretaries of the Cabinet Division, and secretaries and senior officials of the relevant ministries.

At the end of the meeting, Additional Secretary of the Cabinet Department Dr Abu Saleh Mostafa Kamal highlighted various aspects of the approved purchase proposals.

The additional secretary said that the Ministry of Industries has proposed to purchase fertiliser through the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC). In the current fiscal year, a proposal has been approved to import 30,000 tonnes of bagged granular urea fertiliser at the 9th lot from Saudi Arabia through an agreement at the state level.

The purchasing price will be Tk66.08 crore; price per tonne of fertiliser is $262.37.

Similarly, the proposal to import 25,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser in the 9th lot from Muntajat in Qatar was also approved for a purchasing price of Tk55.60 crore. Price of the fertiliser per tonne is also $262.37.

Besides, the BCIC has approved the purchase of 25,000 tonnes of bulk preloaded (optional) urea fertiliser in the 11th lot from Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) at a state-level agreement for Tk56.70 crore. The price of each metric ton of fertilizer will be $267.

Additional Secretary Abu Saleh also said the committee has approved a proposal to purchase 2,900km of 11kV overhead insulated conductors from BRB Cable Industries Limited — the lowest bidder — for the Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board.

This will cost Tk26.12 crore.

Additionally, the meeting approved another proposal from the Power Division to appoint NRECA International, USA to implement the Geographic Information System at the Northern Electricity Supply Company Ltd (NESCO) areas under the “Technical Assistance for Bangladesh Power Sector Development and Capacity Building Project” involving Tk42.56 crore.

Dr Saleh informed that the relevant ministry withdrew the proposal of the Bangladesh Power Development Board to extend the government's contract with Energy Prima Limited for the 50MW gas-based rental power plant at Kumargaon, Sylhet till December 31, 2021.

Earlier, a meeting of the Economic Affairs Committee chaired by the finance minister approved the direct purchase of corrugated iron worth Tk75 crore for the Department of Disaster Management under the Ministry of Disaster Management and Relief on an emergency basis.