The government has approved the purchase of 10,000 metric tonnes of lentils for the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB). The purchase will cost Tk 76 crore 79 lakh.

The Ministry of Commerce's proposal was approved on Wednesday, 16 September, at a meeting of the cabinet committee on government purchase held at the Secretariat and chaired by Finance Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury. The lentils will be bought through a local open (national) tender, with TCB as the implementing agency.

After the full tender process, the tender evaluation committee recommended the lowest bidder, Jaitun Auto Rice and Dal Mills Limited of Khulna. The price, including transport to TCB's warehouses, is Tk 76.79 per kilogram; the Ministry of Finance will provide a counter-guarantee for the payment.

According to the proposal, TCB's lentil procurement target for the 2026-27 financial year is 220,000 metric tonnes, of which 17,528 tonnes have already been bought.

Lentils are one of the staples TCB sells to low-income households at subsidised prices. Sourcing from a domestic mill reduces reliance on imports and gives local processors a public procurement market of their own.

Source: banglanews24