Star Business Report

Singapore-based Agrocorp Pte International yesterday got the contract to supply 50,000 tonnes of wheat to the Directorate General (DG) of Food, according to a decision of the cabinet committee on purchase.

Agrocorp will supply the grains at $21.7 million, or nearly Tk 180 crore, to the state food office.

The Singapore-based firm will supply each tonne of wheat at $421. It was the only tenderer against the food directorate’s call.

This is the first purchase of wheat through international tender by the government for the current fiscal year, said Md Raihanul Kabir, director (current charge) of DG of Food.

In addition, the food directorate also floated tenders to buy another 50,000 tonnes of wheat.

The government plans to buy 5 lakh tonnes of wheat internationally during the current fiscal year, according to the finance ministry.

Of the amount, the government will buy 2 lakh tonnes from Russia through a state-to-state contract. An agreement has already been signed between the two countries and Russia has already shipped the first consignment against the contract, he said. In fiscal 2020-21, the DG of Food bought 4.78 lakh tonnes of wheat from abroad, data from the food ministry showed.