[🇧🇩] Energy Security of Bangladesh

[Saif]

Capacity payments feared to mount significantly

The government's capacity payments to private gas-fired power plants are feared to surge significantly for its failure to purchase power due to gas crisis. Sources said five new facilities with the total generation capacity of 2,673 megawatt have either completed construction or are nearing comple

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Capacity payments feared to mount significantly
M AZIZUR RAHMAN
Published :
Jun 02, 2024 00:28
Updated :
Jun 02, 2024 00:28

The government's capacity payments to private gas-fired power plants are feared to surge significantly for its failure to purchase power due to gas crisis.

Sources said five new facilities with the total generation capacity of 2,673 megawatt have either completed construction or are nearing completion to initiate test runs and then come into operation.

Of the plants, two are owned by the private sector and three by the public sector.

The plants include a 718-MW Reliance-JERA joint venture (JV) gas-fired power plant and 590-MW Anwara Power Plant of the local United Group.

The JV between India's Reliance Power and Japan's JERA has completed construction of its power plants and now carrying out test runs.

Anwara 590 MW Power Plant of United Group has almost completed constructions, said sources.

Two public-sector plants - 156MW Ghorashal 3rd Unit and 409MW Ghorashal 4th Unit - remained idle after completing work due to inadequate gas, according to the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).

Another publicly-owned 800MW Rupsa Power Plant has completed around 80 per cent of the work.

The BPDB has already started counting capacity payments on new plants as it often fails to buy power from Summit's Meghnaghat 583MW and Unique Meghnaghat's 584MW plants.

Although the duo have started commercial operation recently, the BPDB very rarely keep them operational at one go due to gas crisis and bottlenecks in power transmission systems.

The recent liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification setback caused from the cyclone Remal has aggravated the gas supply crisis.

The Summit LNG Terminal, which was hit by a stray broken floating pontoon at Moheshkhali in the Bay of Bengal during the cyclone, is now shut, said a senior Petrobangla official.

Dozens of gas-fired plants are now kept idle due to gas crisis and the BPDB has been counting capacity payment on them.

Amid the already surplus generation capacity and limitations in power transmission infrastructure, energy experts warn that this will exacerbate the burden of capacity charges on consumers.

The government paid a total of around Tk 1.05 trillion as capacity payments to power plant owners up to August 2023, according to state minister for power, energy and mineral resources Nasrul Hamid.

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[Saif]

ISA to support Bangladesh in solar energy

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) will provide technical support to Bangladesh to pull in financing for the renewable energy sector. We'll help Bangladesh find a right policy to introduce a right business model for investment in the solar power sector, ISA Director General Ajay Mathur has...

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ISA to support Bangladesh in solar energy
Published: February 24, 2023 21:05:54

File photo used for representational purposeFile photo used for representational purpose

The International Solar Alliance (ISA) will provide technical support to Bangladesh to pull in financing for the renewable energy sector. "We'll help Bangladesh find a right policy to introduce a right business model for investment in the solar power sector," ISA Director General Ajay Mathur has said. He said this while addressing a press briefing in Dhaka Thursday, reports Xinhua.

The ISA is an alliance based on an intergovernmental treaty whose primary objective is to work for efficient consumption of solar energy to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

The remarks came following Bangladesh's signing of a strategic country partnership agreement with the ISA to accelerate the development of solar energy.

Power secretary Habinur Rahman and Mathur signed the agreement on behalf of their respective sides.

The ISA chief said that land scarcity and a right technological solution have been the biggest challenges to the government in achieving a target of generating 40 percent of electricity from renewable sources by 2041.

"Options like floating solar could be an ideal solution for Bangladesh ... We'll be working to find innovative ideas," he said.

Rahman noted that a total of eight projects were to be implemented under the agreement with the ISA.

These include installations of 12 trolley-mounted portable solar irrigation systems of about 2kW capacity, 12c portable solar paddy threshers of about 2kW capacity, two rooftop solar projects with a capacity of 22kW, a solar cold storage for preservation of agricultural produce, the development of a rooftop project at Chattogram or any other railway station, the installation of a floating solar project in Gazipur and Munshiganj.

Conversion of two manually operated sluice gates to floating solar-powered auto sluice gates in two sites under the Bangladesh Water Development Board is also included in the agreement.​

 

[Saif]

Gas supplies unlikely to normalise this month

Overall, Petrobangla can currently supply around 2,600 mmcfd against a demand of 3,800 mmcfd.

www.thedailystar.net

Gas supplies unlikely to normalise this month
Damaged FSRU of Summit will require repairs abroad

Photo: Summit Group
Gas supplies are unlikely to increase this month as a damaged floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) owned by Summit Group will require repairs abroad, said the company yesterday.

"The Summit LNG Terminal is expected to return to Bangladesh after repairs, hopefully within three weeks," read the Summit statement.

It said, according to assessments by Bureau Veritas, certification societies and international inspectors, the vessel was now ready to discharge all onboard liquefied natural gas (LNG) before proceeding to a dry dock in either Singapore or the Middle East for necessary repairs.

While Cyclone Remal was raging last month, a broken stray steel structure weighing hundreds of tonnes struck the Summit LNG Terminal, causing significant damage, the statement reads.

"The impact sheared the vessel's outer hull, approximately one metre below the waterline, leading to water ingress into the ballast tanks," it said.

"Despite the severe monsoon conditions, the crew, operators, and owners of the vessel, along with the Summit team, worked tirelessly day and night to secure the vessel and its LNG cargo," it said.

"Their bravery and relentless efforts successfully prevented the loss of the cargo," it added.

"This unfortunate incident was mitigated by the grace of Almighty and the hard work of Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limited (RPGCL), customer Petrobangla, the Summit LNG team, our port service operator PSA Marine, and the vessel provider Excelerate," it said.

"Due to their diligence, a major accident was averted," it further added.

Bangladesh avails gas from two FSRU having a total capacity to supply 1,100 million cubic feet of gas a day (mmcfd). The accident reduced the supply to 600 mmcfd.

Overall, Petrobangla can currently supply around 2,600 mmcfd against a demand of 3,800 mmcfd.

The FSRU only resumed operations in mid-April after undergoing maintenance in Singapore for two and a half months.​

 

[Saif]

Higher non-operating income: State-run energy companies deviating from business norm

TITAS Gas Transmission & Distribution Company's profit grew at 27 per cent year-on-year for the October-December quarter of the FY23, mainly riding on non-operating income. Its non-operating income was Tk 674.89 million in the quarter while operating income was Tk 543.66 million. The...

www.thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Higher non-operating income: State-run energy companies deviating from business norm
Mohammad Mufazzal | Published: February 26, 2023 08:48:49

TITAS Gas Transmission & Distribution Company's profit grew at 27 per cent year-on-year for the October-December quarter of the FY23, mainly riding on non-operating income.

Its non-operating income was Tk 674.89 million in the quarter while operating income was Tk 543.66 million.

The non-operating income of another listed state-run company Padma Oil was almost four times its operating income for the second quarter of the ongoing fiscal year.

Like TITAS Gas and Padma Oil, non-operating incomes far outstripped operating incomes of other state-owned fuel and power companies, hence comprising a bigger pie of the net profits earned.

This is not a new trend perceived only in FY23. Rather, the financial data of the last five years reveals that the state-owned energy companies heavily rely upon income generated beyond their business operations to maintain their profit growth.

Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (Desco) is, however, an exception with operating income higher than interest income.

In cases, non-operating income kept companies from going into the red. For example, Except Eastern Lubricants Blenders reported operating loss in FY22 and FY20, but both the years saw hefty non-operating income of the company helping it to gain a profit.

A former director general of Power Cell, BD Rahmatullah was surprised when informed that the state-run energy companies had recorded higher income from outside the business operations year after year.

"Interest income is not part of the business of state-owned energy companies. It's not rational because the companies' income remains blocked," Mr. Rahmatullah said.

The government had hiked energy prices time to time, he said, which should have been reflected in the operating income. "These companies are supposed to roll out the money to boost services," Mr. Rahmatullah said.

Save Eastern Lubricants, the rest of the companies have not issued stock dividend for a long time.

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[Saif]

Exploiting benefits of solar air conditioners

The market of hybrid solar air conditioner is growing globally. As the world turns hotter, the demand for air conditioners has also gone up in Bangladesh along with other tropical countries. With the constant revision of power prices (upward) in the country, electricity bills have become a major he

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

Exploiting benefits of solar air conditioners
SYED MANSUR HASHIM
Published :
Jun 07, 2024 22:59
Updated :
Jun 07, 2024 23:00

— Collected

The market of hybrid solar air conditioner is growing globally. As the world turns hotter, the demand for air conditioners has also gone up in Bangladesh along with other tropical countries. With the constant revision of power prices (upward) in the country, electricity bills have become a major headache for most people. There is a desperate need for a more affordable solution to energy consumption at not just household, but also commercial and industrial level. Rooftop solar panels are increasingly becoming visible at factory-level, but there is great potential for expanding that idea to all urban centres where a sizeable portion of the working population lives.

With easier terms of payments made possible through zero interest instalment payments, the middle class in Bangladesh (the largest consumer section) are rushing to buy air conditioners. Inverter-type split air conditioners promise to save a lot of electricity from non-inverter types, but the fact remains that in an import-driven, fossil-fuel powered energy sector, utility bills will inevitably be itching upward every year. This has given rise to technological innovation which calls for a hybrid air conditioner design, which is being developed and increasingly utilised by power-hungry, highly populated economies like China, India, etc. Indeed, market data suggest that given proper regulatory incentives, tax breaks on import of key components, the global market for such air conditioners could be worth as much as US$500 million by 2025.

The system is a combination of traditional air conditioning type (split-type) with solar panels in an effort to reduce both energy consumption and environmental impact. The Asia-Pacific region will be the focal point of this growth because of the large concentration of people living in the region that smarts under high temperatures practically throughout the year. Challenges faced by the market include higher initial costs and limited awareness among consumers. Regulatory and legal factors specific to market conditions include government policies promoting renewable energy adoption and regulations for energy efficiency standards. Overall, the market of hybrid solar air conditioner shows promising growth potential with the right support and innovation.

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[Saif]

Power gets a third of Tk 108,240cr subsidies

More than a third of the subsidies allocated in the new budget is for the power sector due to what experts say is the huge spending on capacity charges.

www.thedailystar.net

Power gets a third of Tk 108,240cr subsidies
Capacity charges may take up most of it

More than a third of the subsidies allocated in the new budget is for the power sector due to what experts say is the huge spending on capacity charges.

The large sum of subsidy has raised eyebrows as the government increased electricity prices several times since January last year.

Currently, the power generation capacity is around 26,000 megawatts while the highest generation was recorded at 16,477MW on April 30 this year.

Finance Minister AH Mahmood Ali in his budget speech said 27 power plants with a combined capacity of 9,144MW were being constructed.

All sectors combined, subsidy allocation for the fiscal 2024-25 is Tk 108,240 crore, of which the power sector will get Tk 40,000 crore, or 37 percent of the total.

In the current fiscal year, the power sector got Tk 35,000 crore of the total Tk 106,897 crore subsidy.

For many years before 2021-22, subsidies for the sector used to be between Tk 7,000 crore and Tk 9,000 crore.

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[Saif]

Power Grid gets large sums as govt prioritises transmission, distribution

In Bangladesh, the power generation capacity increased to 30,277 megawatts in 2023-24 from 4,942 MW in 2009, said Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali in his budget speech.

www.thedailystar.net

Power Grid gets large sums as govt prioritises transmission, distribution

Around a third of the budgetary allocation set aside for the power division is going to the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) as the government plans to make the most of installed generation capacity by expanding grids and making some of the existing facilities smart.

The finance minister has set aside Tk 29,230 crore for the power division for 2024-25, down 13 percent year-on-year. PGCB will get Tk 10,634 crore.

Coal Power Generation Company of Bangladesh, which is implementing the Matarbari power plant in Cox's Bazar, received the second-highest allocation.

Centring the power plant project, PGCB is implementing several projects in Chattogram, upgrading grids. It has received Tk 1,500 crore to carry out the tasks.

The Barapukuria-Bogura-Kaliakair 400kv project has been given Tk 2,356 crore and the power evacuation facilities project Tk 646 crore.

Among the PGCB's schemes, the highest Tk 3,555 crore has been earmarked for the Power Network Strengthening project, which started in 2016.

In Bangladesh, the power generation capacity increased to 30,277 megawatts in 2023-24 from 4,942 MW in 2009, said Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali in his budget speech.

Currently, 27 plants with a combined capacity of 9,144 MWs are under construction. Most of them are in the private sector.

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[Saif]

The absurdity of subsidies in power sector

Squandering of funds in the name of capacity charges must stop

www.thedailystar.net

The absurdity of subsidies in power sector
Squandering of funds in the name of capacity charges must stop

VISUAL: STAR

In a frustrating if predictable move, the government has once again allocated a third of the budget for subsidies to the power sector, an overwhelming majority of which will be used to pay off capacity charges. It seems no amount of expert logic, public outrage, or even IMF prescriptions can discourage the government from wasting public funds on paying private power plants to sit idle. It has already spent more than Tk 1 lakh crore in capacity charges over the last 14 years. Research by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) reveals that capacity payments have skyrocketed from Tk 5,600 crore in 2017-18 to a staggering Tk 32,000 crore in the outgoing fiscal year, accounting for a whopping 81 percent of total subsidies in the power sector.

Instead of bringing down capacity charges as a matter of priority, the government is constructing an additional 27 power plants, which can only translate to a further increase in capacity charges in the coming year(s). What's more outrageous is that the government has decided to raise power tariffs three to four times a year apparently to lower subsidies over the next three years. Electricity prices were raised by 8.5 percent in February this year, and thrice by 5 percent each last year. Why is the public being asked to pay higher prices in the name of reducing subsidies when, in fact, the government is increasing subsidy allocation in the power sector—from 32 percent of the total allocation last year to 37 percent in the proposed budget?

As always, it is the people who are being unfairly tasked with absorbing the burden of chronic mismanagement, collusion, and corruption in the power sector. This is simply unacceptable, particularly given that the government does not seem to be taking any visible steps to address the root causes of high production costs—a lack of transparency and accountability in awarding contracts, overreliance on expensive imported fuels, and neglecting domestic gas exploration and renewable energy sources. Subsidies make sense when they ensure cheaper and more accessible services and amenities to the public, not when they prop up big business groups at enormous cost to the country and ordinary citizens.

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[Saif]

PM reiterates Bangladesh's interest to import hydroelectricity from Bhutan

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today sought investment from Bhutan in the special economic zone in Bangladesh for investors from the Himalayan country

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PM reiterates Bangladesh's interest to import hydroelectricity from Bhutan

Photo: PID

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today sought investment from Bhutan in the special economic zone in Bangladesh for investors from the Himalayan country.

She emphasised proper use of the SEZ allotted to Bhutan in Kurigram and hoped Bhutan would set up industries there, reports our New Delhi correspondent.

She made the remarks when Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay paid a courtesy call on her at the ITC Maurya New Delhi this afternoon.

Both Hasina and Tobgay are in Delhi to attend the swearing-in of Narendra Modi as India's prime minister.

Hasina reiterated Bangladesh's eagerness to import hydroelectricity from Bhutan through India and pointed out that a tripartite agreement was required with India, said Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud.

"Tobgay conveyed to Hasina that Bhutan is eagerly waiting to export hydroelectricity to Bangladesh," Mahmud said.​

"Both the countries have reiterated their commitment to enhancing the existing multifaceted relations," he said.

 

[Saif]

Gas crisis hits consumers hard

A two-week-long gas crisis has been affecting homes, factories, and vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, thanks to a dip in supply following the shutdown of an LNG regasification terminal in Cox’s Bazar on May 29.

www.thedailystar.net

Gas crisis hits consumers hard

A two-week-long gas crisis has been affecting homes, factories, and vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, thanks to a dip in supply following the shutdown of an LNG regasification terminal in Cox's Bazar on May 29.

People in many areas in the capital are finding it difficult to cook at home. Some factories have closed as they could not operate due to low gas pressure. Almost all city CNG filling stations had long queues of vehicles.

Power supply to rural areas worsened as many plants use gas to generate electricity.

The government had planned to produce 17,800 megawatts of power a day during this summer, but it could generate the highest only on April 30-- 16,477MW.

The average production was between 13,000MW and 15,000MW in April-May, according to data of Bangladesh Power Development Board.

Officials attributed this production dearth to a shortage of fuel, which stems from the dollar crunch.

Bangladesh Rural Electrification Board (REB), responsible for supplying electricity to rural areas, had to conduct up to 1,100MW of load shedding a day since May 27. The districts of Mymensingh, Tangail, Dhaka, Narayanganj, Narshingdi, and Noakhali experienced the highest power cuts, according to REB.

During Cyclone Remal on May 27, the LNG regasification unit in Moheshkhali of Cox's Bazar was damaged. The unit, operated by Summit Group, was taken to a dry dock abroad last week for repairs, said Summit in a statement on June 5.

The LNG terminal is expected to be brought back in about three weeks, added the statement.

The country gets LNG from two floating storage regasification units (FSRU) having a total capacity to process 1,100 million cubic feet of gas a day (mmcfd). The incident reduced the supply to 600 mmcfd.

Petrobangla can currently supply around 2,600 mmcfd against a demand of 3,800 mmcfd.

The country's local gas production has dropped to 2,039 mmcfd from the yearly average of 2,448 mmcfd in 2016, according to data from January.

The Summit's FSRU only resumed operations in mid-April after undergoing maintenance in Singapore for two and a half months. The gas supply situation in the country had been the same back then and people had to endure gas shortage.

Sabakat Sabri, a college student from the capital's East Shewrapara, said they have been facing an acute gas crisis for about a week.

"We have been living here for 15 years, but we never experienced such a bad gas supply situation," he told The Daily Star.

Sabri said they hardly have gas in the morning. "None of my family members can have breakfast at home before heading out to work. The gas pressure does not improve even around noon. That's why we have lunch late."

He said they started using an electric stove on Sunday.

To read the rest of the news, please click on the link above.​

 

[Saif]

To overcome gas crisis, upgrade field management

Bangladesh is going through the worst gas supply shortfall in recent history

www.thedailystar.net

To overcome gas crisis, upgrade field management
Bangladesh needs to catch up with modern technology to optimise domestic gas production.

Bangladesh needs to catch up with modern technology to optimise domestic gas production. VISUAL: REHNUMA PROSHOON

The depleting reserves of most major gas fields, decline in cumulative gas production, and disruption in the expected LNG supply mean that Bangladesh is going through the worst gas supply shortfall in recent history. This is not unexpected by any means, because energy experts, for a long time, have been warning about a major gas crisis coming due to the widening gap between the supply and demand of gas in the country.

On the supply side, local gas production has declined from a peak annual rate of 973 billion cubic feet (Bcf) in FY2016 to 840 Bcf in FY2022, according to Petrobangla. The increasing industrialisation and urbanisation over the last decades, on the other hand, led to a fast uptick in gas demand. The attempt to remove the gap by supplementing the gas supply through liquefied natural gas (LNG) import did not bear the expected result, because Bangladesh cannot import enough LNG to meet its requirement for two reasons. First, the price of LNG is very high and the country currently has a dollar crisis, which would not allow the funds readily available to pay for the import bill. Second, the country has yet to build a robust LNG import infrastructure.

Waning reserves, falling production

In the 1960s, the Shell Oil Company helped place Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) on the world map for gas reserves by discovering several world-class multi-Tcf (trillion cubic feet) gas fields, including Titas, Habiganj, Bakhrabad, Kailashtila and Rashidpur. After independence, new gas fields were discovered on a regular basis, but that did not significantly change the reserve situation, because most of the newly discovered gas fields were relatively smaller in size. In 1997, Bibiyana, yet another multi-Tcf gas field, was discovered by a major international oil company (IOC).

Among the very large gas fields, Titas' initial gas reserve was estimated to be 6.36 Tcf in 2010. At the beginning of 2023, the Titas gas reserve declined to 1.14 Tcf, per Petrobangla data. Similarly, Bakhrabad's initial reserve was estimated to be 1.23 Tcf, which has been reduced to only 0.35 Tcf. Habiganj, another major gas field, has been depleted from the initial reserve of 2.63 Tcf to 0.097 Tcf. The reserve in Bibiyana, the gas field with the highest production volume in Bangladesh, has declined from the initial 5.75 Tcf to 0.33 Tcf at present. The same trend is visible in some other large gas fields. The Sangu, the only active offshore gas field in the country, has been completely depleted and abandoned.

From the above, it is clear that most of the currently operational gas fields are past their youthful strength and cannot be relied upon for meeting our gas needs in the future. To attain future gas security, Bangladesh has to enter a robust exploration programme to find yet-to-find new reserves of gas.

At present, Bangladesh reels under a severe gas supply shortfall. About 78 percent of the gas supply is met through production from local gas fields. The remaining 22 percent is met with imported LNG. While domestic gas production has been on the decline for several years now, the LNG supply suffers from international price hikes and poor LNG infrastructure. The production facilities in local gas fields do exhibit various weaknesses, including less-than-optimum production volume per well compared to IOC wells. Energy experts opine that there is a scope for enhancing the rate of production in individual wells in the national gas fields.

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[Saif]

Deal-making gets nod

Bangladesh expects to begin soon importing 40 megawatts of hydroelectricity from Nepal after signing a tripartite deal with India to use its transmission line as a cabinet body Tuesday gave the go-ahead. The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) gave the approval for the buy of electricit

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

40mw hydropower from Nepal
Deal-making gets nod
Published :
Jun 12, 2024 01:02
Updated :
Jun 12, 2024 01:02

Bangladesh expects to begin soon importing 40 megawatts of hydroelectricity from Nepal after signing a tripartite deal with India to use its transmission line as a cabinet body Tuesday gave the go-ahead.

The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) gave the approval for the buy of electricity from Nepal that costs Tk 8.17 per unit, alongside endorsing several other purchases at dollar-denominated prices.

As approved, the import of the electricity during a period of five years will cost Tk 6.5 billion.

Finance Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali chaired the meeting held at the cabinet division.

Briefing reporters after the meeting was over, cabinet division secretary (Coordination and Reform) Mahmudul Hossain Khan said the committee approved a proposal of the Power Division to import the electricity under direct-purchase method.

"As the proposal got approval," he said, "Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) will now sign a tripartite deal with Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN)."

However, replying to a query, he said date for signing the deal was yet to be fixed.

Mr Khan said the Prime Minister may visit Nepal soon and the power deal may be signed then.

Earlier in December last year, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved in principle the import of 40MW electricity from Nepal. Thereafter, the BPDB floated an international tender and Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) and NTPC Vidyut Vyapar Nigam Limited (NVVN) submitted proposals in this regard.

The government imports electricity from India, too, and buys from private power producers to cater domestic demand. Power-purchase deals with them under a special law involve capacity payment.

In Tuesday's meeting, the CCGP also approved 14 other proposals that include import of fertilisers, lentils and soybean oils.

Under one purchase approved, Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) will import 30,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser from Qatar Chemical and Petrochemical Marketing and Distribution Company (Muntajat) with each tonne costing US$311.67.

Also, BCIC has been the all-clear to import 30,000 tonnes of urea fertiliser from Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company Limited (KAFCO) by spending $294.63 per tonne.

Mr Khan said the committee also approved a proposal regarding the procurement of 25,000 tonnes of TSP fertiliser by Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) from Tunisia. Each tonne will cost $395.25 in this import.

The agricultural corporation has also been authorised to import 40,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser from Canadian Commercial Corporation-each tonne costing $275.50.

Moreover, it got the go-ahead to import 40,000 tonnes of DAP fertiliser from OCP Morocco at a cost of $478 per tonne.

The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) has been given approval for buying 20,000 tonnes of lentils from Nabil Naba Food Products Limited through open-tender method where each kilogram will cost Tk 102.50.

Under yet another purchase approval, the TCB will buy 22 million litres of soybean oil from Super Oil Refinery Limited-per litre costing Tk 150.90--to sell to needy people.​