The cabinet committee on public purchase (CCPP) on Sunday approved a proposal to extend the agreement with India by another five years to import electricity from its Tripura state. Now Bangladesh will, however, import 160 MW of electricity instead of previously agreed 100 MW at a relatively lower tariff, said Shamsul Arefin, additional secretary to the Cabinet Division, while briefing reporters. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the meeting, attended by the ministers who are the members of the committee. Also read: Bangladesh’s power import to go up to 9,000 MW by 2041: State Minister As per the new proposal, Bangladesh will now pay Tk 7.13852 (Rs 6.27) per kilowatt hour (each unit) to India instead of Tk 7.99 (Rs 7.01). Arefin said that Bangladesh could save Tk 706 crore for the lower tariff. The new import deal will take a retrospective effect from Mar 17, 2021 and remain valid up to March 16, 2026, keeping all other conditions unchanged. But the annual escalation rate in tariff will be static at 2 percent, he added. Bangladesh has been importing electricity from India since September 2013 and now its total import stands at 1,160 MW of which 1000 MW is being imported from West Bengal through Bheramara border while 160 MW from Tripura through Cumilla border. There has been another agreement with Indian private company, Adani Group, to import another 1600 MW for which transmission lines are being installed. State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid recently said the government plans to increase its electricity import to 9000 MW from neighbouring countries, including Nepal, Bhutan and India. Also read: Speakers at a webinar suggest use of gas mainly for power generation A deal is ready to import 500 MW from an Indian company’s power plant in Nepal. Bangladesh will need to spend Tk 4,188 crore over the next five years to import the 160 MW power from India.

The cabinet economic affairs committee (CCEA) on Wednesday approved in principle two proposals, including the procurement of two Russian helicopters by the Bangladesh Police. The CCEA gave the nod to the proposal of the Bangladesh Police at a meeting to procure the two helicopters from Russia under a G-to-G contract. However, the cost of the helicopters was not disclosed in the meeting as the issue will come to the cabinet committee on public purchase (CCPP) for the final approval. Meanwhile, the CCPP today approved 7 procurement proposals, including the import of LNG, wheat and fertiliser. Read: Cabinet purchase body clears procurement of huge wheat, fertiliser As per the CCPP-approved proposals, state-owned Petrobangla will import 33.60 lakh MMBtu of liquified natural gas (LNG) from Vitol Asia Pte Pls, Singapore at a cost of Tk 1,205 crore -- each MMBtu price at $35.8932 -- while another 33.60 lakh MMBtu of LNG will be imported from Gunvor Singapore Pte. Ltd at a cost of Tk 1,241 crore -- each unit price at $36.95. About the purchase of such a huge bulk LNG import on a single occasion, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said through this import Bangladesh has completed its required purchase of fuel up to December year. “Since the price of LNG is rising, we’ve made advance procurement,” he told reporters. Read: Quick energy supply: Cabinet approves 5-yr extension of special provision The Food Directorate General will import 100,000 metric tons of wheat from Russia under a G-to-G contract at a cost of Tk 357.61 crore. Bangladesh Chemical industries Corp[oration (BCIC) will import 30,000 metric tons of bulk granular urea from Fertiglobe Distribution limited, UAE at Tk 127.67 crore while another 30,000 MTs will be imported from Muntajat, Qatar, at a cost of Tk 129.84 crore.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said he received no application from the Padma Bank Limited for its merger plan with any state-owned bank.   “I received no application from Padma Bank so far,” he said while talking to reporters after a meeting of the cabinet committee on public purchase (CCPP) on Wednesday. Mustafa Kamal, however, said now all the state-owned banks like Janata, Sonali and Rupali have certain stakes in the Padma Bank’s ownership structure.    He also said a draft has been prepared for framing a law on the merger and acquisition. “Hopefully, the law will be enacted soon to facilitate the process of merger and acquisition. Once the law is enacted, we can consider the proposal of the Padma Bank.”   Read: Savings certificates: Finance Minister defends profit lowering Kamal said the owners of the Padma Bank failed to run the bank due to corruption by a section of people. “Punitive measures were taken against those people. Now they are in jail after trial,” he said adding, “What else can the government do?   Responding to another question, the finance minister said Business Research International Corporation Inc. (BRIC), a Panama-based company, which was given the approval to set up a 50MW solar power plant in Terkhada in Khulna, is not a tainted company like those the names of which were published in Panama Papers. He said the company in Joint Venture with Hero Future Energies Asia Pte. Ltd, Singapore will set up the plant on its own and the government does not need to invest any amount in the project.   Read: No money from stimulus package enters stock market: Finance Minister State-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) will purchase electricity over 20 years at a total cost of Tk 1328.90 crore. The finance minister said this company may be based in Panama, but it is not among those companies which were published by Panama Papers for their corruption. “Panama Papers companies and a Panama-based company are not the same,” he said.   

The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase at a meeting on Wednesday approved 12 proposals, including the import of LNG, liquid petroleum and wheat. The meeting also endorsed the installation of a 50MW solar power plant in private sector to supply electricity to the government entity. Besides, two proposals received approval in principle of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affair (CCEA) for the purchase of a huge number of syringes to be used for Covid-19 vaccination and also the import of petroleum for meeting local demands. As per the approvals of the CCEA, the Department of Drug Administration under the Public Health Service Division received a nod to procure 11 crore auto disable (AD) syringes for vaccinating people from the local JMI Syringes and Medical Devices through a direct procurement method. The BPC will purchase 80,000 metric tons of furnace oil, known as heavy fuel oil, from different countries under the G-to-G contracts.   Read Cabinet committee approves 4 proposals, including LNG import Of the proposals approved by the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase, the state-owned Petrobangla will import some 33.60 lakh MMBtu LNG (liquefied natural gas) from the international spot market through quotation. Vitol Asia Pte, Singapore, will supply the bulk LNG at a rate of $29.89 per million British thermal units (MMBtu). About the proposal, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said so far this has been the highest rate at which Bangladesh has to import LNG from international market. “We don’t there where the price will go up….the prices of both gas and liquid petroleum are rising fast... it’s a big concern for us,” he told UNB.   A proposal of the Power Division under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources to set up a 50MW solar power plant by a private sponsor received the approval. As per the proposal, the Joint Venture of (1) Hero Future Energies Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore and (2) Business Research International Corporation Inc. (BRIC), Panama will set up the plant in Terkhada area in Khulna and the state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) will purchase electricity over 20 years. Read Bangladesh signs MoU with Malaysia on LNG supply Nasrul Hamid said pharmaceutical company Reneta is the local agent of the BRIC. The BPDB will have to pay a total of Tk 1,328.90 crore to the sponsor company for the purchase of the electricity at a rate of 10.25 US Cents (equivalent to Tk 8.20) per kilowatt hour. Another proposal of the power division also received the approval of the committee to award a contract to J&C Impex Ltd., Dhaka, to procure and install the Hot Gas Path Inspection of the Gas Turbine of the 225 MW Shikolbaha Power Station at Chattogram at a contract value of Tk 102.94 crore. A proposal of the Food Directorate General of Food Ministry to import 50,000 metric tons of wheat from Singapore-based Agrocorp International Pte Ltd. at Tk 179.53 crore received the committee’s approval. The committee also approved proposals for awarding contracts for printing and supply of books for education boards, import of 30,000 metric tons of fertilizer and construction of a number of roads under the roads and highways department.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Wednesday discounted a claim that the coronavirus pandemic has made up to  2.5 crore new poor in the country.   “I don’t believe that 2-2.5 crore people are now below the poverty line. I need to know from where some research organizations have collected the figure”, he told a reporter after attending a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase. Read: ARTICLE 19 lauds tax exemption move for 3rd gender citizens in proposed budget He said the government has its own research bodies and they are now working on it. “I will look into it when the government bodies complete their findings”. He said no figure will be acceptable before the government’s own research bodies’ present their findings.   Read: JS passes Tk 13,987.27 cr supplementary budget Defending the proposed national budget for fiscal 2021-22, the finance minister said his budget has no weak points. Trashing the comments of some economists that the budget has failed to address the problems of corona-affected low income groups, he said everything in the budget is strong. Read: New budget proposals inadequate in tackling poverty, say rights groups “You will see the results of the budget that it would serve the interest of poor people when implementation starts”, he said. He said he has followed the Prime Minister’s instruction to bring the poor people within the mainstream of the economy.    

Bangladesh reported 22 more coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours till Thursday morning, pushing up the country's fatalities to 12,480. Besides, 1,292 more people were found positive for Covid-19 after testing 15,915 samples during the period. The daily positivity rate declined to 8.12 percent  from Wednesday’s 9.11 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services. Read:AstraZeneca: Govt's desperate efforts yet to yield any good news Health authorities logged 17 Covid-related deaths on Wednesday, the lowest number in 68 days.The country saw 16 Covid-19 deaths on March 18 last. The fatality rate remained at 1.57% . The recovery rate stood at 92.47% as 1,291 people recovered in the last 24 hours. The overall recovery number is 7,35,157 till date. With the fresh cases, the country’s total caseload reached 7,94,985. The country has carried out 58,87,268 sample tests since reporting its first cases on March 8 last year and the first death on March 18, 2020. Vaccination drive update Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses purchased from India's Serum Institute. The administration of the first dose remained suspended since April 26. Also, the country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the timely arrival of shipments from India. However, the administering of the 1st dose of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine against Covid-19 began in Bangladesh on Tuesday. Cabinet body okays procurement of 1.5 cr Sinopharm vaccine The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Thursday gave final approval to a proposal of the Health and Family Welfare Ministry to procure 1.5 crore Chinese Sinofarm Covid-19 vaccine. Read:Cabinet body okays proposal to procure 1.5 crore Chinese Sinopharm vaccine As per the approval, the Health Services Division of the Health and Family Welfare Ministry will procure a total of 15 million (1.5 crore) vaccine in the next three months—June, July and August. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the Cabinet body meeting.  “Each month 5 million doses of vaccine will be imported from the Chinese firm”, Dr Shahida Aktar, additional secretary to the Cabinet Division, told reporters while briefing on the outcomes of the cabinet body meeting.  

The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Thursday gave final approval to a proposal of the Health and Family Welfare Ministry to procure 1.5 crore Chinese Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine. As per the approval, the Health Services Division of the Health and Family Welfare Ministry will procure a total of 15 million (1.5 crore) vaccine  in the next three months—June, July and August. Read: Process to procure vaccine from China at final stage: FM Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the Cabinet body meeting.  “Each month 5 million doses of vaccine will be imported from the Chinese firm”, Dr Shahida Aktar, additional secretary to the Cabinet Division, told reporters while briefing on the outcomes of the cabinet body meeting. Earlier on May 19, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave its “in principle approval” to a proposal of the Health Services Division to import Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine. Read: Bangladesh begins administering 1st dose of Chinese vaccine The CCEA also approved “in principle” procurement of Covid-19 vaccine from Russia in a meeting on April 28. But no specific proposal regarding the quantity and the cost of the Russian Sputnik-V is yet to come to the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase, which is responsible for giving the final approval.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved a proposal of the Health Service Division to import Sinofarm Covid-19 vaccine. Dr Shahida Aktar, additional secretary to the Cabinet Division, disclosed this while briefing reporters after a meeting of the committee.  She, however, did not provide any detail about the price of the Chinese vaccine and its quantity. “It’s just an approval made in principle. Details of the proposal will be known when it’ll come again for approval of the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase.”  Dr Shahida said the proposal was instantly placed on the table during the virtual meeting. She said the CCEA approved another proposal of the Health Service Division to import 40 Oxygen generators to be used for the treatment of Covid patients. Also read: Dhaka requests Delhi to send vaccine to Bangladesh soon The Central Medicine Store Department (CMSD) will import the oxygen generators. Another proposal made by the Industries Ministry received approval of the CCEA to sign a contract for the import of 1.28 million metric tons of fertiliser from three countries for the fiscal year 2021-2022. Of the bulk fertiliser, 500,000 mt will be imported from Muntajar Qatar, 500,000 mt from Sabic of Saudi Arabia and 250,000 mt from Fertiglbe of the UAE. Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase (CCPP) approved nine proposals, including the import of LNG and awarding a contract for installing a 400MW power plant to a Chinese contractor. As per the proposal, state-owned Petrobangla will import 3.360 million MMBtu of (liquified natural gas) LNG from AOT Trading of Switzerland at a cost of Tk 340.62 crore -- $10.199 per unit. Also read: Bangladesh to get 106,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine on June 2: Health Ministry State-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) will award an EPC contract to Chinese contractor SEPCO-III Electric Power Construction Company Ltd, at a cost of Tk 1,796.72 crore to set up a 400MW gas-fired power plant at Raozan Power Station in Chattogram. The plant will be installed replacing the existing one. A proposal of the Bangladesh Police received approval of the committee to award a contract Joint Venture of (1) Smart Technologies (BD) Ltd, Dhaka and (2) Digicon Technologies Ltd, Dhaka to introduce surveillance systems on Dhaka-Chattogram Highway. Under the contract, the contractor will set up CCTV monitoring systems and other infrastructure on the highway. Two other proposals of the Directorate General of Food (DGF) received approval of the CCPP. Also read: Bangladesh seeks at least 2 mln doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from Canada The DGF will award a Tk 261.70 contract to the Joint Venture of (1) Beximco Computers Limited, Bangladesh, (2) Bangladesh Export Import Company Ltd. Bangladesh, (3) Tech Mahindra Ltd. India, and (4) Tech Valley Networks Ltd. Bangladesh to install software, set up data centres and monitoring systems at all the food storehouses across the country under the package No-GD-27 of the “Modern Food Storage Facilities (MFSP)” project. The DGF will award another contract of Tk 330.86 crore under the package No-W-21 of the same project to Joint Venture of (1) Confidence Infrastructure Limited, Bangladesh and (2) The GSI Group LLC, USA to set up a food steel silo for rice at Barisal. Payra Port Authority’s tender proposal to award a Tk 5,629.18 crore contract to Jan De Nul (JDN), a Belgium-based dredging company, to conduct capital dredging and maintenance at the Rabonabad channel of the Payra Port received approval of the committee. Another proposal of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) under the Shipping Ministry received approval of the CCPP to award a contract to Karnaphuli Ship Builders Ltd., to construct and supply four coastal passenger vessels at a cost of Tk 230.95 crore.

The government has suspended the contract awarding of all new tender proposals under the Public Works Division until June 30. The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase at a meeting on Wednesday put the moratorium as there is no enough time to implement any new project under the current fiscal year (2020-21). “We don’t have enough time for implementing any new project. Only one month is left before the new fiscal year starts,” said Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal while briefing reporters after a cabinet body meeting. Mustafa Kamal presided over the meeting as convener of the Cabinet body. He, however, said only the proposals of the ongoing projects and foreign-funded ones will be considered for approval in addition to any cost variation. “All the other projects will remain suspended. New projects involve different kinds of material purchase and the prices of which are not stable. We don’t know the prices of the materials of the projects under the Public Works Division in the current abnormal situation,” the minister said. Cabinet Division’s additional secretary Dr Shahida Aktar said all the five proposals of the Public Works Department which were placed by the Public Works Division were rejected by the committee in compliance with the new decision. Meanwhile, the cabinet body approved a total of eight other proposals, including the import of wheat, LNG and fertilizers, placed by different divisions and ministries. Two of these proposals were placed by the Energy Division for import of LNG. As per the proposals, state-owned Petrobangla will import 3.36 million MMBtu of liquified natural gas (LNG) from Excelerate Energy, United States, at a cost of Tk 318.25 crore from the international spot market through quotation at $9.93 per MMBtu of LNG. Another similar proposal for the import of the same quantity of 3.36 million MMBtu of LNG at Tk 298.22 crore was approved by the committee. The per MMBtu was valued at $8.93, which was earlier purchased in the same process.  The committee also approved a proposal of the Directorate General of Food under the Food Ministry to import 50,000 metric tons of non-Bashmoti parboiled rice from Soubhik Export Limited, India, at a total cost of Tk 163.66 crore. Each metric ton of rice was valued at $386 while each kg of rice will be priced Tk 32.73.  The bulk rice will be imported through railway from West Bengal’s Chhattrishgar to Dorshana via Benapole. This is the first time rice is being imported through railways from India, said Dr Shahida Aktar. Two proposals, placed by the Agriculture Ministry, were approved by the committee for the import of fertiliser. Of these, the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) will import 180,000 metric tons of MOP fertiliser from Belarus at a cost of Tk 447.82 crore with each MT being priced $289.87. The BADC will import 150,000 MT of TSP fertiliser from Tunisia at a cost of Tk 723.77 crore -- each MT at $568. The Cabinet committee approved a proposal of the Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) to procure 30,000 MT of urea fertiliser from Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company at a cost of Tk 92.38 crore. Each MT of fertiliser was valued at $362.50 per MT. A proposal of the Secondary and Higher Education Division also received the approval of the committee to award a contract to Korean Company THAIHAN Consortium for supplying hardware and services for the project titled: Establishment of 160 Upazila ICT Training and Resource for Education Phase -II.  The contract was valued at Tk 460 crore.

Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Wednesday approved eight procurement proposals including the import of LNG.  Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the meeting. As per a proposal, placed by Energy and Mineral Resources Division, state-owned Petrobangla will import 3.360 million MMBtu of LNG from Vitol Asia Pte Ltd, Singapore, at a cost of Tk 267.57 crore. Each unit will cost $8.01. Also read: Cabinet purchase body approves LNG, rice import Three proposals of the Roads Transport and Highways Division received the nod of the Cabinet body. As per the proposals, Roads and Highways Department will award a Tk 188.35 crore contract to Spectra Engineers Ltd, under package No-PW-02 of its Project “Installing Excel Load Control Centre at the Transport Sourcing Points in the Important Highways”. The Roads and Highways Department will extend the cost of 25km road improvement from Cox’s Bazar to Ukhia by Tk 13.43 crore under the package No-WP-01 of Cox’s Bazar-Tekhnaf Road Development project and also Tk 16 crore for 25km road improvement from Ukhia to Unchiprang road of the same project under the package No-WP-02.   Also read: Will seek details of Vitol Asia on LNG supply: Finance Minister The committee approved two proposals of the Railway Ministry. As per approval, Bangladesh Railway (BR) will award a contract of Tk 433.78 crore to Joint Venture of (1) CREC and (2) CCCL, Dhaka, to implement the project: Construction of Broadguage Rail Truck from Madhukhali to Madura via Kamarkhali under its package No-WD-1. The BR will award Tk 448.98 crore contract to Joint Venture of (1) CRCC and (2) MAHL, Dhaka, to implement the work under the package No-WD-02 of the same project. Also read: Cabinet body okays LNG import from int’l spot market The Cabinet body approved a proposal of the Health Services Division to procure Tk 80,734 cartons of 27 kinds of drugs from the state-owned Essential Drugs Company Limited, for community-based healthcare (CBHC) authority through direct procurement method.