Relations between Bangladesh and India may be going through their worst phase, but when Bangladesh is in need, it is India that comes forward for its needs. Even though Bangladesh accuses India every day, despite this it has helped Bangladesh under the policy of Neighborhood First.

Actually, the interim government of Bangladesh has decided to buy 50,000 tonnes of rice from India to meet consumer demand amid the food supply crisis and rising inflation. This rice will be used in state-sponsored food distribution programs and India has agreed to provide it. The proposal for this purchase was approved in the meeting of the Economic Affairs Advisory Committee under the chairmanship of Finance Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed. After this, the Food Ministry plans to import rice into India from M/s Bagadia Brothers Pvt Ltd at the rate of $456.67 per tonne.

Rice supply and food security

According to Food Ministry data, the stock of food grains in Bangladesh till December 17 was 11.48 lakh tonnes, of which about 7.42 lakh tonnes was rice. The government had imported 26.25 lakh tonnes of food grains in the current financial year, of which 54,170 tonnes was rice.

The government is planning to distribute 20.52 lakh tonnes of food grains through multiple channels in the financial year 2024-25. Under this, 8 lakh tonnes of rice will be collected from the local market from the current aman season, while more rice will be procured during the boro season beginning in 2025.

Purchase of Liquefied Natural Gas and Fertilizer

Apart from the Food Ministry, the Bangladesh government has also approved separate proposals to purchase Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) and fertilizer (urea). The Ministry has decided to purchase two cargoes of LNG from M/s TotalEnergy Gas and Power Limited of Switzerland. The price of one cargo will be $ 14.25 per MMBtu and the price of the other will be $ 13.87 per MMBtu.

Apart from this, the Industry Ministry is working on separate proposals to purchase 90,000 tonnes of urea fertilizer from Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Purchasing other essential items

Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has decided to purchase 10,000 tonnes of lentils from Dhaka-based Sheikh Agro Food Industries, the price of which will be Tk 95.40 per kg. Along with this, TCB has decided to purchase 1.10 crore liters of soybean oil from Dhaka-based City Edible Oil Limited, the price of which will be Tk 172.25 per liter.

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