By IANS
Dhaka : A team of Bangladeshi officials is in Kolkata to purchase 500,000 tonnes of rice to meet the shortage in the country accentuated by last November’s devastating cyclone.
The state-run West Bengal Essential Commodity Supply Corporation has submitted a tender to the central government of India for the supply of the rice. But the deal has not been settled as the two governments (India and Bangladesh) have not yet reached agreement on the price.
The West Bengal corporation’s asking price is about $400 per tonne while the Bangladesh side has been negotiating for Indian local market price that varies between $350 and $360, The Daily Star newspaper reported Monday.
Following the cyclone, India’s External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee had offered bulk sale of rice, the staple diet here, at a concession to help Bangladesh tide over its shortage.
This was despite the Indian government’s own shortfall in procurement of rice needed for its public distribution system.
Recently local media reports said India was hiking the sale price. That caused a scare and a price rise in the domestic market here. However, the Indian high commission here rubbished the reports.
With crops over a million hectares of land destroyed by the Nov 15 cyclone, Bangladesh has stepped up its imports, media reports said Monday.