FROM PAGE B1

2024-2025 (FY25), imports accounted for 65 percent of its power needs, with the reliance increasing every year.

The government has been scrambling for alternative suppliers. It earlier approved the purchase of 2 lakh tonnes of diesel from Kazakhstan.

In a separate development yesterday, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs allowed Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) to compress its tender preparation and submission period for refined fuel imports from 42 days to 10, a move designed to speed up procurement as supply pressures mount.

Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury chaired the meeting.

Earlier, the committee approved the direct import of 2.75 lakh tonnes of fuel oil, which implies that the BPC can buy and additional 1 lakh tonnes of petroleum through direct purchase method.

The BPC sold 68.35 lakh tonnes of fuel in FY25 and 43.5 lakh tonnes or 63 percent of the total sales were diesel, according to the BPC.

The state agency had imported 46 lakh tonnes of refined petroleum and 15 lakh tonnes of crude oil that year.