50,000 tonnes of white rice will also be purchased from Pakistan.

The government today relaxed a provision of the public procurement rules to speed up the purchase of 3 lakh tonnes of rice through international tenders, as part of an effort to quickly replenish the public food stock and intervene in the market to contain prices.

The government also decided to buy 50,000 tonnes of white rice from Pakistan under a government-to-government deal.

The decisions were made separately at meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP).

As per the decision of the CCEA, the food ministry will procure 3 lakh tonnes of staple grains under a relaxed provision of the Public Procurement Rules 2008, which will enable the purchase of the cereal in 15 days instead of the officially prescribed 42 days.

A senior official of the Directorate General of Food said the relaxation was necessary for them to buy rice in a short period.

The official at the directorate mentioned that their office wants to buy 6 lakh tonnes of rice via international tenders. Of that, tenders to procure 3 lakh tonnes of grains have been floated. Tenders to buy the remaining 3 lakh tonnes will be floated after the easing of procurement rules.

In addition, the CCGP approved the food directorate’s plan regarding the purchase of 50,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice through international tender. The price will be $454.14 per tonne.

For the purchase of 50,000 tonnes of white rice from Pakistan under the government-to-government contract, the price will be $499 per tonne, according to official documents. The DG Food will buy the grain from the Trading Corporation of Pakistan.

The latest decision comes as the food ministry expects to receive 1 lakh tonnes of rice this month from Myanmar, Bangladesh’s neighbour on the southeastern border.

The food ministry is also in discussions with India and Vietnam to buy 1 lakh tonnes of rice each from these two countries, the official said.

On January 12 this year, the public stock of food grains stood at 12.25 lakh tonnes, including 8.2 lakh tonnes of rice. A year ago, the stock of food grains in state storages was 16.26 lakh tonnes, reflecting a 25 percent decline year-on-year.

Depending on quality, the retail prices of rice soared between 9.8 percent and 15.7 percent in Dhaka over the last year, according to market price data compiled by the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh.

Published Date: January 17, 2025