The government has approved the purchase proposal to procure 30 thousand tonnes of diesel from Numaligarh Refinery of India on Thursday.

The approvals came from the 18th meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) held at the cabinet division conference room with Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali in the chair. In response to a proposal from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division, some 30,000 tonnes of diesel would be procured from Indian Numaligarh Refinery for the July-December period with around Tk 2.73 billion.

Assam-based Numaligarh Refinery is scheduled to complete diesel supply within July to December, according to the Cabinet Secretary (Coordination) Mahmudul Hossain Khan. Hossain said the government procures 50 percent fuel from government-to-government (G2G) partnership and remaining from the open market.

“The diesel to be procured from Numaligarh Refinery is in G-to-G process at reference rate of 28 June at the premium of $5.5 per barrel,” he said. The diesel will be directly imported from Siliguri-based marketing terminal to Parbatipur Depot in Bangladesh through India-Bangladesh Friendship Pipeline. Numaligarh Refinery is a division of Oil India Limited which is under the ownership of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Government of India.

The cabinet committee meeting approved a proposal for procuring refined fuel oil from state-owned enterprises of various countries under G to G basis for the second half (July-December) period of 2024 with around Tk 164.84 billion as per the premium and reference price.

Besides, the government also approved separate proposals for 80 thousand tonnes of fertilizer as five proposals tabled on the meeting. Hossain said the government will also procure one cargo LNG from M/S Total Energies Gas and Power Ltd, Switzerland as the 23rd consignment of 2024 with around Tk 5.83 billion where per MMBtu LNG would cost US$12.58.

Following two separate proposals from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) would procure 40,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser from Canadian Commercial Corporation, Canada under the third lot under state-level agreement with around Tk130.04 crore where per tonne of fertiliser would cost US $275.50.