The Bangladeshi interim government is planning to import 50,000 tonnes of rice from India in its bid to increase the country’s food stock.
Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed approved a proposal in this regard at a meeting of a government advisory committee on purchase at the Bangladesh Secretariat.
The food ministry would import the rice through SAEL Agri Commodities Ltd, India at a cost of $471.6 per tonne, the newspaper reported.
The committee, earlier this month, had approved importing 50,000 tonnes of rice through the Indian enterprise Pattabhi Agro Foods Private Limited.
According to the food ministry data, the country had a stock of 12.36 lakh tonnes of food grains as of November 20, of which 8.08 lakh tonnes were rice, the Bangladeshi newspaper reported.
Overall, the government plans to initially import a total of 5 lakh tonnes of rice for this fiscal year of 2024-25 through government-to-government arrangements and open tenders , a food ministry said.
The amount of import may rise if prices in the market increase, he said.