Khalil slashes beef price by Tk100 again

Khalilur Rahman, a well-known meat trader in Dhaka, has decided to reduce the price of meat in his shop again, beef will now be sold at Tk595 per kg in his shop till Ramadan 20.

He announced this at a press conference organized by the Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection on Sunday. 

Khalilur Rahman, a businessman of North Shahjahanpur, came to the spotlight by selling beef at a lower price than the market last year.

At the beginning of Ramadan this year, he announced that he will sell beef at Tk595 per kg in his shop until Ramadan 20. His shop "Khalil Gosto Bitan" was flooded with customers.

However, he announced to increase the price of meat by Tk 100 per kg before the end of 10 days of Ramadan. He claimed to be under "multiple pressures" to raise prices.

In the press conference, Khalilur Rahman said: "I will sell meat at Tk595 per kg till 20 days of Ramadan. But I will not slaughter more than 20 cows per day. Meat will be sold from 7am to 3pm. After that, the shop will be closed.”

Apart from Khalilur Rahman, Mohammad Ujjal of Mirpur and Nayan Ahmed of Old Dhaka were also present in the press conference. They also promised to sell meat at a lower price than the government declared price.

The Directorate of Agriculture Marketing has fixed the "reasonable price" of beef at Tk664 per kg.

Mohammad Ujjal said: "I promised to sell beef at Tk595 during Ramadan. Now the price of cow is raising more. As a result, an increase of Tk35 per kg has to be made. However, during the remaining days of Ramadan, I will sell beef at Tk630 per kg. The price is still lower than the government price.”

Nayan Ahmed said that he sells beef for Tk570 taka per kg. And the price of premium meat if Tk650 per kg.

“Many traders are buying cows at a high price. As a result, I also have to buy cows at an increased price. So, selling meat within these prices has become a challenge. However, this price will continue during the month of Ramadan,” he said.

Regarding the reason for organizing the press conference, Director General of Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection AHM Safikuzzaman said: “We have not called the beef sellers for business promotion, nor have they been pressured to come to the press conference. These traders have brought about major changes in the beef market. 

“But now they are going through various challenges. We want to hear them. They will determine the price of meat themselves. The business is theirs; the profits and losses are theirs,” he added.

Notably, when beef was being sold at Tk700 to Tk750 per kg in the market, Khalilur Rahman announced the sale of meat at Tk595. After that, people from different areas of Dhaka flocked to his shop to buy meat. Last Friday, he said that he sold beef worth Tk1 crore.