The government is planning to include mustard oil in its list of essential commodities that TCB would sell at subsidized prices among the 10 million low-income families.

The Ministry of Agriculture estimated it to help save foreign currency equivalent to around Tk10,000 crore annually.

The Ministry of Agriculture has recently requested the Ministry of Commerce to include edible oil in the list of Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) that operates the sales drive of key essentials across the country.

The Ministry of Agriculture has now been implementing a three-year (FY 2022-25) work plan aiming to achieve self-sufficiency in producing edible oil and reduce the import dependency by around 40%.

The country, however, produced over 811,000 tonnes of edible oil so far in the current FY23, which was more than the year's target of 719,000 tonnes, according to Ministry of Agriculture figures.

The ministry expected that the government would take necessary steps to implement the work plan properly and ensure fair prices for the mustard output.

If the mustard oil is included in the TCB's list, it would help ensure fair prices for the farmers, it argued.

The sale of edible oil by the TCB is facing difficulty as the authorities could not procure enough of the item as compared to that of the demand, said an official.

Currently, The TCB sells some essential commodities like soybean oil, sugar and lentil in different parts of the country through its dealers and at fixed places in association with the city corporations and district and upazila administrations.