SANGSAD BHABAN, May 8, 2024 (BSS)-State Minister for Commerce Ahsanul Islam Titu today said the government will construct modern cold storages for preservation of the perishable commodities including onion.

“Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) will implement the project titled “Modern Cold Storage Construction” for preserving agricultural commodities including onion”, he said.

The state minister revealed this while responding to a star-marked query raised by treasury bench lawmaker Alauddin Ahmed Chowdhury of Feni-1 in favor of Nizam Uddin Hazari of Feni-2 during the question-answer session held at the Jatiya Sangsad here with Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair.

To construct the facilities, the state minister said feasibility study already has been completed under the commerce ministry to undertake the project, adding “according to the feasibility study report, the project is financially and economically viable.”

“The commodities which would be stored at the cold storage will play a significant role in controlling price at the market across the country, said the state minister while explaining the benefit of the project.

TCB has been proposed to implement the project at a cost of over Taka 428.86 crore within a timeframe between March 2024 and June 2027, said the state minister. 

The project will be implemented after the approval of the finance ministry as the proposal is now under process at the ministry of finance.

Under the project, he said one cold storage will be constructed at Faridpur with a capacity of 10,000 metric tonnes and other will be constructed at Pabna district. A total of 20,000 metric tonnes of onions or perishable items will be stored.