The government has allocated an additional Tk249.42 crore for river training in the Padma Bridge project. This new allocation was approved during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Procurement on Saturday.

Md Mahmudul Hossain Khan, secretary of the Cabinet Department (Coordination and Reforms), said that the increase was due to an extension of time required for the river management work of the Padma Multi-Purpose Bridge Construction Project. The original contract price was Tk8,707.81 crore.

“With this increase of Tk249.42 crore, or 12.94%, the total contract price now stands at Tk9,834.77 crore,” Khan said. China’s state-owned Sinohydro Corporation is responsible for managing the river.

In addition to this, the Cabinet Committee approved the import of 30,000 tonnes of urea fertilizer from FortiGlobe Distribution of the UAE at Tk114.16 crore, or $322.5 per tonne.

The committee also approved the purchase proposal for package WP-3, which includes the SMVT lane of the Sylhet-Tamabil highway. This project, funded by Bangladesh and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, will cost Tk1,386.12 crore and will be executed by China National Chemical Communications.

Furthermore, the government will procure 2.2 million litres of soybean oil for the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) through an open tender process. City Edible Oil will supply this at Tk331.06 crore, with each litre priced at Tk150.48.

Lastly, the procurement committee approved the purchase of 1 crore litres of rice bran oil for TCB through a local open tender process. This oil will be bought from Majumdar Products Limited at Tk147.35 per litre, totalling Tk162.09 crore.