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The government will import an additional 50,000 MT of non-basmati boiled rice from India at a rate of Tk53.02 per kilogram. This move aims to increase the country’s food reserves and ensure the proper functioning of the government distribution system. The total cost for this rice import will be Tk265.07 crore.
The approval for this rice import was granted during a meeting of the Advisory Council Committee on Government Purchases, chaired by Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, held at the Secretariat on Thursday.
Previously, the Advisory Council Committee had approved rice imports from India, Pakistan, Vietnam, and Singapore. This includes two separate imports of 50,000 tons each from India, 50,000 tons each from Pakistan and Singapore, and 100,000 tons from Vietnam.
At Thursday’s meeting, the Ministry of Food presented a proposal to import 50,000 metric tons of non-basmati boiled rice. The committee reviewed and approved the proposal. The rice will be imported from India’s M/S Bogadia Brothers Private Ltd.
The price of rice has been set at Tk53.02 per kilogram, which corresponds to a price of $434.55 per metric ton. The total cost for importing 50,000 tons of rice will be $21.7 million, equivalent to Tk265 crore.
It is reported that eight bids were submitted in response to the international open tender for this import. All eight proposals were found to be both financially and technically responsive. After reviewing the tenders, the committee decided to import the rice from India’s M/S Bogadia Brothers Private Ltd, which offered the lowest responsive bid.
Earlier, on February 11, the Advisory Council Committee on Government Purchases approved the import of 50,000 tons of non-basmati boiled rice from Singapore’s Agro Corp International Pte Ltd through an open tender. The price for this rice was set at $434.77 per metric ton, and the total cost was Tk265.20 crore.
On January 28, the committee approved the import of 100,000 tons of atap rice from Vietnam, with an expenditure of Tk578.60 crore. The price for this rice was set at $474.25 per metric ton.
Additionally, on January 16, the committee approved the purchase of 50,000 metric tons of atap rice from Pakistan and another 50,000 metric tons of non-basmati boiled rice from India.
The estimated cost of importing 50,000 tons of atap rice from Pakistan under the G2G (government-to-government) arrangement was Tk304.40 crore, with a price of $499 per metric ton. The cost of importing 50,000 tons of non-basmati boiled rice from India was estimated at Tk277.20 crore, with a price of $454.14 per metric ton.
Before approving the purchase from Pakistan, in 2024, the government had approved the import of 50,000 tons of non-basmati boiled rice from India on December 4 and December 18, with the cost for the December 4 shipment being Tk280.60 crore and the December 18 shipment costing
