Azeem A Khan

The lowest bids submitted by two companies for the import of 580,000 metric tonnes of wheat through the ports of Karachi and Gwadar have been accepted by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet. Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar presided over the meeting.

The ECC accepted the lowest bid from Cereal Crop Trading LLC at $ 372 per metric tonne for the supply of 130,000 metric tonnes at Karachi Port for the shipment period from December 16, 2022, to February 8, 2023, while taking the results of the 7th international tender and the government-to-government offer into consideration.

The committee also approved Russian state firm Prodintorg’s bid on a government-to-government basis for a supply of 450,000 metric tonnes at Gwadar Port for a shipment period from February 1 to March 31 of 2023, at $ 372 per metric tonnes. The Ministry of National Food Security and Research submitted a summary of the Award of 7th International Wheat Tender 2022, which was opened on November 30, 2022.

It was agreed that Pakistan Agricultural Storage and Services Corporation would bear any additional expenses for domestic transportation from Gwadar Port, and those expenses would be recouped from the provinces when the wheat stock is released. The request of the finance ministry to rename the revolving fund account for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Independent Power Producers from "Pakistan Energy Revolving Fund" to "Pakistan Energy Revolving Account" was also accepted by the cabinet committee.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk