February 10: Chemical fertilizer purchased by the government from Bangladesh under a G2G deal is likely to arrive after two more weeks. The concerned authorities of the government have informed that all the processes for importing 50,000 metric tons of urea has been completed and the fertilizer will be loaded from Thursday (February 11) onward.

The fertilizer will first be sent to Kolkata from Chatgaun of Bangladesh and then to Nepal. The state-owned Agriculture Inputs Company Limited, which has been handed the responsibility to import the fertilizer, has procured the urea for a price which is less than the market price. The price of urea is US$ 259.19 per metric ton in the market but the company has signed a deal to procure it for US$ 100 less than the market price.

As per the understanding between the two countries, the fertilizer will be imported in two ways – one through bulk transport and another through cargo.

“As all the processes have been completed, the fertilizer will be loaded from Thursday,” said Bishnu Pokharel, chief of the procurement division of the company. He added that it will take around two weeks for the fertilizer to arrive in Nepal.

Nepal had initially reached an understanding with Bangladesh to borrow the fertilizer but Bangladesh later retracted from the decision. After the attempt failed, the Government of Nepal decided to procure fertilizer from Bangladesh.