The government has approved the import of 155,000 tonnes of muriate of potash (MOP) and diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilisers from Russia, Canada and Saudi Arabia at a total cost of Tk 969.47 crore.

Of the total quantity, 115,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser will be imported from Russia and Canada, while 40,000 tonnes of DAP fertiliser will be purchased from Saudi Arabia.

The fertiliser import proposals were approved at a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase held on Tuesday (October 13), chaired by Finance Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury. The minister joined the meeting virtually from Thailand.

Under the approved proposals, 35,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser will be purchased from Russia’s state-owned JSC Foreign Economic Corporation (Prodintorg) at a cost of Tk 166.09 crore. The price has been set at $383.80 per tonne. The shipment will be imported under the eighth lot of a government-to-government (G2G) agreement with the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC).

Meanwhile, 80,000 tonnes of MOP fertiliser will be procured from the Canadian Commercial Corporation (CCC) in two lots of 40,000 tonnes each. Each lot will cost Tk 188.90 crore, taking the total expenditure to Tk 377.79 crore. The price has been fixed at $382.38 per tonne under an agreement signed between BADC and CCC.

The remaining 40,000 tonnes of DAP fertiliser will be purchased from Saudi Arabian company Ma’aden at a cost of Tk 425.58 crore. The price has been set at $861.50 per tonne under the fifth lot of a government-to-government agreement between BADC and Ma’aden.

The imports are expected to help ensure an adequate supply of fertilisers for the country’s agricultural sector.