1.5 lakh MT onion, sugar import from India before Ramadan: State Minister

State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam has said that 1.5 lakh tonnes of sugar and onions will be imported from India before the start of Ramadan.

He revealed the information to reporters at his office in the Secretariat on Sunday (February 18) afternoon.

The state minister said, “We will be able to increase the supply of onion and sugar to the market before the month of fasting. We have placed a demand of 50,000 metric tonnes of onions and one lakh metric tonnes of sugar. In response, we have received assurances of 20,000 metric tonnes of onions and 50,000 metric tonnes of sugar. But, hopefully, we will be able to import the total demand before Ramadan.”

Ahsanul Islam said during the foreign minister’s recent visit to India, he has been assured about the import of onion and sugar. “Hopefully, we will get good news within Thursday. We will be able to inform how and when we will import once we get the approval,” he added.

“Their (India) ministerial meeting was supposed to be held on February 14. But the meeting has been deferred as the country’s foreign minister is in Germany now. Hopefully, they will hold the meeting within Thursday where they will finalise the decision over our import demand,” the state minister for commerce added.

Stating that efforts are being made to import the daily essentials from alternative sources outside India, he said, “We are trying to import from neighboring countries of India. We are already importing pulses from Nepal, and although the border situation in Myanmar is not good, efforts are underway to import daily essentials from there. We will be able to inform you about the update soon.”

A meeting of the task force committee will be held on Tuesday, said the state minister, adding that the price of edible oil is expected to be re-fixed in the meeting.

The government will ensure market monitoring at the field level during Ramadan and after fixing the price of edible oil, it will take measures to prevent the hike in oil prices, he added.