The Government of Bangladesh has approved the import of one cargo of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) from Singapore at a cost of Tk 586.46 crore to help meet the country’s growing energy demand.
The purchase will be made through the spot market under the international quotation process, following the Public Procurement Rules, 2008.
The approval for the proposed procurement from the Singapore spot market through international tenders came at a meeting of the Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase held on Tuesday at Bangladesh Secretariat with Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed.
According to meeting sources, state-owned Petrobangla sought bids from 23 companies that are signatories to the Master Sale and Purchase Agreement (MSPA) for LNG supply. Out of these, seven companies submitted technically and financially responsive bids.
Based on the recommendation of the Proposal Evaluation Committee (PEC), the government chose the lowest bidder, Singapore-based M/s Gunvor Singapore Pte Ltd, to supply the LNG cargo. The agreed rate is $12.23 per MMBtu for a total of 3.36 million MMBtu, amounting to the total cost of Tk 586.46 crore.
In the same meeting, the CCGP also approved a separate procurement proposal of the Ministry of Agriculture, under which the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) will purchase 40,000 metric tonnes of DAP fertiliser under the 12th lot under state-level agreement with OCP NUTRICROPS, Morocco with around Tk 324.52 crore with per tonne costing $665.
In another proposal of the Ministry of Industries, the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) will procure 30,000 metric tonnes of bagged granular urea fertilizer from KAFCO, Bangladesh under the 16th lot for the current fiscal year spending Tk 152.71 crore with per tonne costing $417.25.
Besides, the Election Commission was authorised to purchase blank smart cards worth Tk 406.50 crore under the IDEA (Phase 2) project from Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory (BMTF) through a direct purchase process.
Four road transport and infrastructure proposals under the Roads and Highways Department were approved as well, with a combined expenditure of Tk 438.76 crore.
These include Widening and upgrading of the Bhulta–Araihazar–Bancharampur–Nabinagar–Shibpur–Radhika and Sarail–Nasirnagar–Lakhai regional highways. A retendering process was approved after earlier bids became void.
The work of emergency repair and rehabilitation of flood-damaged roads, bridges, and culverts in Sunamganj and Habiganj under two packages, jointly awarded Mustafa Zaman Traders and Mir Habibul Alam, totaling over Tk 296 crore.
Widening of the Feni (Mohammad Ali Bazar)–Chhagalnaiya–Korerrhat road and construction of the Shubhapur Bridge over the Feni River also got nod. Monico Limited will implement it at Tk 139.62 crore.
The government has also approved an additional allocation of Tk 421.76 crore for the ongoing Dohazari–Ramu–Cox’s Bazar and Ramu–Ghumdhum (near Myanmar border) single-line dual-gauge railway project, bringing the total cost of the project to Tk 3,451.13 crore. The expansion follows a previously approved increase of Tk 41.24 crore for civil works under Lot-2 of the same project, granted at a CCGP meeting on March 27.