The government will buy 85,000 tonnes of TSP, urea and rock phosphate fertilizers from Morocco, Singapore and Kafco at a cost of Tk 432.73 crore.
The decision was approved at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase, chaired by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, on Wednesday.
Briefing reporters virtually after the meeting, the Finance Minister said the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) on Wednesday approved a total of four proposals worth Tk 492.47 crore.
“Among the procurement proposals, I have considered two proposals from the Ministry of Industry, one from the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Department, one from the Local Government Department and one from the Ministry of Agriculture,” he said.
The Finance Minister said, “Out of the total financing in the four proposals approved by the procurement committee, the government will provide only Tk 78.52 crore from its fund while the rest Tk 413.95 crore will come from local banks and the World Bank,” he mentioned.
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At the end of the meeting, Md Zillur Rahman Chowdhury, the Additional Secretary of the Cabinet, said the a proposal of Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) under the Ministry of Agriculture has been approved to import 30,000 tonnes of TSP fertilizer from OCP of Morocco at a cost of Tk 182.06 million.
Another proposal approved at the meeting from Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) under the Ministry of Industries has approved the purchase of 30,000 metric tons of bagged granular urea fertilizer from Karnaphuli Fertilizer Company Limited (Kafco) at a cost of Tk 172.15 crore.
In addition, Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) under the Ministry of Industries has procured 25,000 metric tons of Rock Phosphate (72 percent BPL Minimum) from M/s Agro Industrial Input, Dhaka (main supplier M/s Wilson International Trading PVT Limited Singapore) at the cost of Tk 78.52 crore has been approved.
Responding to a question from reporters, the Finance Minister said we have not received any proposal to increase or decrease the price of fertilizer in the country.
He mentioned, “If any proposal for price hike came to the finance ministry, we would know how much money we would need.”
