An Indian multi-state cooperative federation seeks the prime minister's intervention to supply different commodities to Bangladesh from the neighbouring nation.
The National Federation of Farmers' Procurement Processing and Retailing Cooperatives of India Ltd (NACOF) has recently sought faster steps to this end.
Earlier, it proposed the issue to the food minister during the prime minister's visit last September.
It is keen to supply sugar, onion and other commodities from India at reasonable rates as Bangladesh has floated international tenders to import food items for domestic consumption.
The Trading Corporation of Bangladesh has invited bidders to import soybean oil, rice, sugar, lentil and other products from international sources.
The NACOF earlier supplied non-basmati rice to Bangladesh and has a countrywide footprint in India, having an annual turnover of INR 37 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2021-22, it said.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has forwarded the proposal to the commerce ministry for taking measures in this connection.
Following the PMO's instruction, the ministry has asked to review and take the next course of action after a discussion with the stakeholders concerned.
Currently, India is a very important source for Bangladesh for importing different food items.
On the NACOF proposal, a senior official of the ministry said, "We've received a proposal from the Indian entity regarding its interest in selling various food items to Bangladesh."
"Now we are scrutinising it. This is a very important proposal for Bangladesh given the present volatile kitchen market situation."
The official further said that his ministry was considering sitting with stakeholders concerned, including other ministries.
But it would take some time as the commerce secretary is staying abroad now, he added.
The government is trying to boost the supply of essential goods to the overheated commodity market.
Lentil, edible oil, sugar and other kitchen items have become pricier, hitting hard the consumers.
At an Indo-Bangla commerce minister-level meeting on 22-23 December 2022, Dhaka sought quota for 4.5-million tonnes of wheat, 2.0-million tonnes of rice, 1.5-million tonnes of sugar, 0.7-million tonnes of onion, 0.125-million tonnes of ginger, 30,000 tonnes of lentil and 10,000 tonnes of garlic.
Following a request, Bangladesh is working to submit a fresh proposal as India thinks that the earlier proposed figures for rice, wheat and sugar out of seven commodities were overestimated.
The commerce ministry has recently formed a high-powered committee for preparing a revised annual import quota on some food items from India.
The neighbouring country is the key import source of different essential items. Bangladesh mainly depends on India for importing onion and sugar.
India mainly exports to Bangladesh rice, sugar, pulses, onion, engineering goods, chemical and pharmaceuticals, accessories, cotton, sugar, fruits, onions, cereals, and vehicles.
The bilateral trade between Bangladesh and India was $18.2 billion in FY 2021-22, as against $10.8 billion in the previous FY 2021.
Bangladesh's overall export to India reached $1.99 billion in FY 2022, marking a robust 55-per cent growth year on year.
It shipped goods worth $1.27 billion in FY 2021, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data.
The FY 2022 export earnings surpassed the pre-pandemic level income, which was $1.24 billion in FY 2019, the EPB data showed.
However, the country's trade gap with India continued to widen during the period in question.
Bangladesh imported goods worth $8.59 billion in FY 2021, according to data available with the central bank.
During the PM's state visit, Bangladesh requested India for a sizeable supply of food commodities such as rice, wheat, sugar, onion, ginger and garlic.
